What We Leave Behind
by CrowFeathers
Summary: The universe had it in for her, that much she was sure of. Naraku dead, jewel gone, well closed; That should have been the end. Dying so early was a bit unexpected, but arriving in Soul Society...? When had her life ever gone as planned? *Pairing TBA*
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright everyone. First fanfic, be gentle with me please ^_^'

Rating may go up. Pairing is to be announced later, partly because I haven't really decided what it is. At any rate, this story is pre-beginning for Bleach but just before timeskip for InuYasha. Bit of a long chapter but think of it like a pilot episode :D

Mini-dictionary at bottom for some of the Japanese words if you don't know what they are. I think I caught all the spelling errors, but I swing back and forth on usage of English/Japanese words; Hopefully no one finds this too annoying.

Onwards!

* * *

><p>"KAGOME!"<p>

Said girl paused and looked up from the Bakudo incantation she'd been in the process of memorizing to the source of the irritated wail. Ten feet from her with his right hand outstretched in front of him, braced at the wrist with the left, was a young boy of 12 or 13. His mess of long straight brown hair was tied into a thin dragon tail which swept from the base of his neck to the middle of his shoulders. But his face was turned over his shoulder to yell at her, so she could see his long messy bangs starting to cling to his cheeks and forehead as they became dampened with sweat, obscuring slightly the brilliant green eyes, which she knew without a doubt, were glaring at her.

She glanced at the other end of the courtyard which was engulfed with black smoke as a result of his Kido shots. "What's the problem? You're doing fine Nobooru, alot better than I did when I started out with Shakkaho" she said turning back to her scroll. "That's not the problem! Look!" he shouted, breaking his stance and pointing furiously back to the end of the courtyard. She sighed, putting her scroll down beside Kogitsune and, slapping dust from her red hakama, wandered over to the youth. He scowled up at her and she gave him an amused smirk, which only prompted him to growl furiously and jab an arm outwards to point again at the destruction. She sighed dramatically and followed his finger to where the dust and smoke was settling and understood the source of his frustration. Nobooru's shots, though numerous and stable, didn't have the kick behind to get them all the way to the targets against the far wall; They had simply fallen short and blasted a small trench of craters just short of them.

She looked back him with a small exasperated smile, to which he gave an even greater scowl and blew a bang out of his eyes. She focused on the action immediately. "Well?" he pressed, crossing his arms and tilting his head.

She mirrored the action, then let loose at laugh and replied, "Well it would help if you didn't look like a sheep-dog" He opened his mouth to protest but her hands landed on his shoulders and in one smooth motion she twisted him around. She sank her hands into his hair looking for the elusive ends to his hair tie, which immediately caused him to protest loudly to her playing with his hair. "Oh quiet down you!" she laughed, tugging the hair tie free and immediately combing her fingers across his crown to gather the bangs out of his face, "You can't hit something you can't see" Ignoring his grumbling she brought his hair into a bun high on the back of his scalp and immediately realized his hair tie was too thin and short to bind it. With a sigh she raised her hand to her own and tugged her long blue ribbon free. Ignoring her hair cascading down over her back she reached out and swiftly bound the brown locks, tugging a few loose pieces behind his ears, "There".

He turned around with a spectacular scowl, as always, and she gave a queer smile as he grunted. She gave him a poke in the forehead. "OW!" he yelled, swatting at her hand, "Would you cut that out!" "I can't cut it out; it grows right back" she laughed in response, catching his hand as he tried to swat at her. "Alright now. That's enough. C'mon, show me your stance" she continued, stepping back to give him the space. He grumbled, but looked down to his feet and spread them apart, she noted that he bent his knees a little, then spread his arms out straight in front of him, his shoulders visibly straining with how tightly and forward he had set them. Once he seemed to determine himself fit he looked to her expectantly.

She gave an exasperated smile and shook her head, stepping into his space. "This isn't a duel Nobooru, you're way too tense" She pressed her foot against his to guide it inward a little but he resisted and protested, "But Yamagawa sensei says that we need a strong stance when casting any kind of Kido, it's the foundation of casting when you're a beginner". She nodded, hearing his words, and added for his benefit "That is very true, but you're trying to cast Kido, not stop a charging Hollow with just your body. Here, just let me show you"

She pressed her foot against his, "Bring your right foot in a little... put the other about a foot's length back..."

He complied, moving as she'd told him, then relaxing his arms and shoulders when she took his hands apart. "Okay, instead of bracing around your wrist, put your right out to cast and press your left against the back of it. Your arms and shoulders should be comfortable enough that you could hold this position for several minutes okay?"

He nodded and did as she told, looking at her expectantly. "Now you're ready to cast. When you say the words, speak loudly, clearly and not too fast; Speed comes later, now we're just trying to get a feel for it okay?" He looked at her for a moment then nodded, focusing on the middle target on the other side of the courtyard.

He took a deep steadying breath, "_Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"_

The red energy formed swiftly as he spoke and as he finished up with chant with a shout of "_Hado 31, Shakkaho!_", the ball sped away from his hand, soaring across the courtyard with great enthusiasm until, true to form, it struck the target he'd been aiming for and promptly exploded.

Nobooru stood still, stunned and shocked that it had worked, until a broad grin broke his face and he leapt out of his stance, punching the air with a jovial "IT WORKED!"

Kagome stood to the side laughing as he proceeded to do a small victory dance. "Alright hotshot" she said, dropping her hand onto his head making him pause in place and look eagerly up at her, "You did good, now c'mon" He practically jumped after her as she wandered back towards the seating area where Kogitsune lay contently watching and her scroll lay forgotten.

"What's next?" he asked excitedly, stepping in front of her and walking backwards, eagerly yammering, "C'mon! Tell me! Another Hado? Oh! Can you teach me Sokatsui! How about a Bakudo? Oh you gotta teach me Rikujokoro! That one completely immobilizes the target! C'mon c'mon what's next?"

She paused, smiling bemusedly down at him, and he immediately stopped to stare eagerly at her, hanging on to her next words. A slow grin spread over her face and she said, "Next is lunch"

"Alright lun- Lunch!" he squawked, staring at her in dismay as she walked around him and his horrified expression, "Why lunch?" She sat back down on the bench and unwrapped her small bundle of onigiri that she'd pilfered from the mess hall that morning.

"KAGOME!" he wailed like a wounded animal, "Why lunch! You promised to practice my Kido with me! You've only taught me one new Hado; c'mon I want to learn more!" She burst into peals of laughter at his horrified expression and looked up to him. "Nobooru! I just taught you the incantation for Shakkaho an hour ago and you've been firing ever since; Kido's not like Zanjutsu you know, you can really hurt yourself trying to learn and practice new Kido rapid fire like that. Just sit down and eat, recover your strength and let the information stick. Besides you have afternoon classes in a little while don't you? It wouldn't do for you to go in there half dead because you used up all your strength"

He did _not_ look convinced. She mustered a great sigh and shook her head at him, "Look, how about this? You sit down and eat, and on my next day off if you can hit all the targets with one shot each and not show any strain after, then _maybe_...I'll teach you one of the weaker advance level Bakudō 'kay?"

Nobooru grinned and clenched his fist with a hissed "Yes!" Then eagerly sat and flopped down beside her and tucked into one of the onigiri. She rolled her eyes with a soft laugh, earning a questioning stare from the younger boy, so she elaborated "You're far too eager; It's bad enough that you've got me practicing with you in the evenings after supper, but it's terrible getting me to be doing _anything_ Kido related on one of the days that Onabara-sensei gave me off"

He tilted his head curiously, "Why'd he do that anyway? Don't you normally have advanced Zanjutsu on day three?" "Mmm" she grunted softly, chewing her onigiri thoughtfully, "He mentioned something about a couple of Soul Reapers from the Thirteen Court Guard Squads wanting to meet me and Takashi this afternoon. He was looking pretty squirrely though so I'm pretty there's a Squad Captain involved-" Nobooru choked on his onigiri and gave her an incredulous look, "What?" she asked, looking more surprised by his reaction than what she'd said, "It's not that unexpected..."

He gave her a look which suggested 'Elaborate?' She smirked, "Okay, I was going to wait to see if it fell through or not before I announced this, so you can't tell 'Tou-san until I'm sure but yesterday sensei came to me and Takashi and told us that he put us up for early graduation" Nobooru's eyes widened dramatically and she quickly cut him off, "Now don't make a fuss about it! Not yet at least, Sensei said not to get our hopes up too high. Even if it's approved they'll almost assuredly only let one through. Early graduation is only approved for a handful of students in a century and while Takashi is my only competition the odds are stacked against both of us"

He gave a huge gulp to get his mouthful down and said, "But you know your Zanpakuto's name and everything, I mean you've almost got your shikai you just gotta work out the kinks in whatever Kogitsune's trying to do right? But Takashi, he's only just started to hear his Zanpakuto's name, that's gotta count for something right?" She smiled a bit sadly at him, "Normally it would mean I'm a shoe-in yeah, but..." she trailed off and stroked Kogitsune's sheath as he brushed against her senses gently.

"What? What's the matter?" he asked, seeing her slight melancholy. She smiled a bit disappointedly and explained, "Sensei pulled me aside after he told us and explained, although he's rooting for me, Takashi will probably get through not me. His Kido scores over all are better, more generalized whereas mine is heavily skewed; My Bakudo is at an advanced level, but my Hado is mediocre at best. And most important... Takashi is from a noble family, one of the lesser Noble families, but a noble family none the less, and they hold a lot of influence in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. I'm just a Rukon district brat"

He simply sat for a moment and seemed to consider her words then without warning he lunged to his feet and stood in front of her. He scoffed, "No way they'll pick Takashi, you're way stronger than him, and more importantly; He's an asshole" Nobooru nodded sagely at his own words and continued, "I bet they'll have you spar with Takashi to show off your power, and you'll kick his ass like you always do, or he'll say something stupid and rude and they'll definitely pick you" She gave a soft snort and reached out to gently pat Nobooru's head, "I wish I had your boldness Otouto" "Pfft" he scoffed, seemingly ignoring her comment but she could see the flush on his cheeks, "Trust me Onee-chan, you're gonna be a Soul Reaper"

A Soul Reaper.

Her thoughts wandered. It had been three years since she'd died and come to Soul Society. Nearly three years after wishing away the jewel and being left on the modern day side of the well, only three days away from graduation, and she dies by getting hit by a car. Nearly a year in the Warring States Era, she'd been poisoned, cursed, stabbed, bitten by youkai, had part and/or all of her soul removed on _multiple_ occasions, shot with her own arrow, fallen from high places, and kidnapped more times than she could count on both hands. And most importantly: She'd survived it **all**. And then she came home and died of what amounted to nothing more than a lack of special awareness on her own part.

But of course, in some ways it made sense. Fate had always thrown curveballs at her, and just to compound the randomness of it, there had been no Konso that she could recall; One moment, the screaming of tires just behind her as she walked home from high school, the next, she came to in an outer district of Rukon district, so abrupt and disorienting it was like she had walked through a patch of empty air disguised as a stair step. And to top it off? With the exception of those few disorienting flashes right at her death, she had all her memories, whereas the best she could find from others were scattered fragments, usually from close to just before their death.

The first few months of wandering the outer districts had been a blur of constant peril; between rogue Hollows that wandered freely and the lawless ruffians that more often than not targeted young unsuspecting women like her, she had learned quickly to use her senses to avoid fights, or barring that, frighten an enemy into submission. Her Mikoki, though ineffective against the normal human souls was flashy and intimidating enough to scare away any bully or pimp who set his eye on her, and could purify any Hollow that got too close for comfort; thankfully it seemed to be a lot more willing and able when it came to manipulating as a soul.

It hadn't stayed lonely for long, almost right away the dreams of Kogitsune had started, and within a few months during one truly terrifying ambush by a Hollow so large that her Miko powers had only pissed it off, he came to her.

_ She didn't have to try to bite back the scream that wanted to escape her as it reached out to grab her, the impact of its swat knocked the breath out of her and sent her tumbling back down over a small ledge, which in addition to knocking her senseless, practically tore open her back on the rocks. She coughed desperately trying to get air through the pain and her spasming diaphragm. Her face, shoulder, and ribs stung sharply, and she knew without a doubt by the hot sensation creeping across the areas around them that the Hollow's claws had broken through her skin. _

_ The creature roared again and survival instincts kicked in. She opened her eyes, ignoring the stinging in her cheek, and looked to where the offensive creature was lumbering down over the incline. It was a large Hollow - probably two stories- bigger than the creatures she'd dealt with before, and with its long face and ogre-like build it reminded her distinctly of Naraku's offspring Goshinki. She moved to sit up and stand but shooting pain screamed up along her chest from its claw marks and the edges of her vision darkened, the pain nearly enough to cause her to black out. _

_ Frustrated she let loose a small slew of swear words that would've made InuYasha proud. _

_ Or shocked. _

_ She heard the creature give an amused laugh at her predicament but it said no more, merely crouched in front of her, watching with narrowed eyes as she used her arms to scramble back a bit. It thoughtfully licked a painful looking burn that her Mikoki had left on its foreleg but its short tail whipped back and forth like that of an angry cat. _

_ Fear was beginning to overtake her. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to get her Miko powers up to where they needed to be to pull off another attack that would take care of a Hollow that large, not through the fear and pain she was feeling now. And it was going to pounce, she __**knew **__it was going to pounce. How many times, when Buyo was young and spry, had she seen the feline take that position as she got ready to pounce on her unsuspecting toy mouse? Except this was a Hollow, and __**she**__ was the toy. _

_ And then it brushed her. Not the Hollow, something else; Something so painfully familiar to her it felt like a word on the tip of her tongue, yet so utterly novel she couldn't help but spike her powers in an attempt to fight it off. But this seemed to make whatever was, this entity, stronger, and suddenly it was there; Whispering, calling, begging. Little fragments of words seemed to come from every direction, but one clear one shot through her mind, in a voice like distant thunder; __**Draw me...**_

_ And then the Hollow lunged..._

_ She didn't flinch, she'd give herself the credit for it later. She'd still been dragging herself backwards and in reaching behind her hand had landed on something; Something which she felt instinctively was metal, but wrapped in something soft and smooth, and felt warm and safe and __**right**__. _

_ Instinct took over._

_ She pulled, and ignored the Hollow's scream, ignored the chime that filled her world, ignored the howl of triumph that echoed through her mind, and brought the strange item forward. _

_ Then all of a sudden... silence._

_ She opened her eyes. When had she closed them?_

_ The Hollow's face was suspended not two feet in front of her, the horrible red glow of its eyes fading, its body starting to disintegrate even as she watched, too shocked to do anything but stare. _

_ Because between its eyes, having gone right through the mask and down into the face and head below, was the flawless gleaming blade of a sword._

_ She stared in shock, watched as the Hollow disappeared, and the small patch of air in front of her, just above the blade of the sword seemed to shimmer and ripple like the distant road on a hot day. It darkened and expanded, and without warning became solid. Where there was once empty space, perhaps the most peculiar creature she'd ever seen suddenly stepped out of thin air and landed, weightless, on one paw on the blade of sword. _

_ It seemed to be a black fox. Though black wasn't an accurate description, it seemed as though its very essence was shadow, it had no beginning or end, no discernible curvature to show the contours of its face or body in the black mass that was its body. There was simply the bright empty space next to it where she could see the slight curve of the blade behind it, then the not-solidness of its shadow body. But she felt in soul that it was a fox, by the long pointed ears she could see sticking up out of its silhouette, the delicate paw balanced on the blade, and most importantly, the long shadow-shedding tail that flicked with great laziness through the air. Hanging from said tail was a cherry wood and rice paper toro lantern as tall as her hand. From within it an unearthly glow was being emitted, and despite the paper seemed impossibly bright, yet didn't seem to shine on the shadowy being in front of her. _

_ A splash of colour appeared in the shadow; two narrow pupil-less eyes, which gleamed with a blue green light from within. They landed on her, seeming to see into her, finding all and missing nothing. Then, slowly, a thin jagged grin, gleaming with the same inner blue green light, which made the black silhouette of its fangs all the more sinister spread over its maw._

_ Definitely a fox._

_ And just when she thought she may've been better off with the Hollow, the jaws cracked open slightly, _

"_**Welllll donnne..."**_

_ And just like that she was left in an empty clearing, clutching a sword, and no one, not even a living shadow, around for miles._

_ Very slowly she looked down at the sword, felt a vibrating purr rumble across her mind, and in her greatest wisdom said to the world at large, _

"_What. The. Hell."_

_ Then passed out._

And that was pretty much how she materialized her Zanpakuto and first met Kogitsune.

It was also pretty much when she'd met Nobooru;

_ She gave a moan of pain as she slowly became aware of herself again. Above her was a slightly rotting looking ceiling but there were many still sturdy looking beams holding it up. She found it hard to breathe but was pretty sure it was the layered cloth underneath her arm, which was draped across her middle, suggesting she'd been bandaged up. Something abruptly poked her knee hard and there was a soft grunt from her left. _

_ Immediately her eyes shot open, and she lunged upwards to a sitting position, or at least tried to. She got about halfway up before agony tore through her chest and she was forced to fall back with an exhausted, pained gasp. _

"_Oh good you're alive" someone said nearby; Male, young, and sarcastic. She opened her eyes, after she got her breathing under control, and turned her head slowly to see in that crouched in the corner by the door was a young boy, ten years old maybe, filthy and bruised, with a tangle of brown hair and brilliant green eyes. He had a sour expression on his face, as if he wasn't sure whether to scowl or look hopeful. At any rate, he didn't seem much of a threat, and she quickly turned back to look around the room. It was clearly a small hut, barely long enough for her to be stretched out as she was, and she wasn't exactly tall, even for a woman. And beside her..._

_ The sword she'd used to kill the hollow. It was long, a lot longer than Tessaiga for sure, it must've been a nodachi, which surprised her because she didn't recall it being very heavy at all, not that she'd really been paying attention. She'd have to draw it to be sure, but the sheer length of the hilt was pretty convincing enough. Being laid out next to her like it was, she got a chance to take in some features that she hadn't noticed before, like the fact that the edges of the silken hilt wrapping were in fact a different colour from the deep blue of the center, sort of a shiny blue-green that gleamed like embers in the half light of the hut. Through a small hole in the pommel of the hilt ran a bright blue broad ribbon that looked oddly familiar and tightly tied two small golden bells, each about the size of her fingertip. And there was a sheath, which definitely hadn't been there before in the clearing with the Hollow._

_ She reached out to touch it with the back of her finger thoughtfully, and found that despite its full dark colour it didn't feel like wood or metal, and she had to wonder where it had come from. "Yeah, that thing just showed up outta nowhere when ya passed out" the kid drawled from behind her. She paused in her musings and looked back to him, watching as he nodded sagely and puffed up a bit trying to seem big, "Figured it was meant for your sword since, y'know that showed up outta nowhere too. Why'd you let that Hollow beat you up so bad if you hadda sword? Shoulda just drawn it in th'beginin' if you ask me"_

_ She considered the child for a moment; he wasn't actually that young, probably a few years older than she'd first guessed but he was small and thin like an underfed bird. No pants, just a torn and muddied haori. His bravado and rough way of speaking though... she wondered if he was one of the orphan street kids. But he was thin... well ... everyone was thin in the outer districts, but his seemed more deep than others she'd found. She remembered the street ruffian who'd proudly explained Soul Society, the Soul Reapers, and spiritual power to her; "_If you have spiritual power, then ya gotta eat!_" had been among the first things he'd explained before telling her about the Soul Reapers._

_ He noticed her stare, and gave a fierce glare, or at least an attempt at a fierce glare, his youth and overall appearance didn't make for a frightening countenance. "Whatchyou lookin' at!" he snapped. "Where am I?" she asked, ignoring his hostility. He calmed slightly at her question, and turned away scratching his nose "At my place, not far from where you killed that Hollow actually. I heard the scream and came to see what was goin' on, got there just in time to see you pull out that fancy sword of yours" She blinked at his comments for a moment, then gave a soft grunt of understanding._

_ Slowly she braced her arms beneath herself and carefully lifted her back from the ground. It hurt but there was no blazing agony. The thin torn blanket fell away from her chest as she did and she saw that most of her upper chest had been bandaged, along with a small area of her upper right arm, with what appeared to be the bloodied remains of her kimono. It was an amateur job, the one on her chest was too loose, the one on her arm too tight, and her thin, ragged white under layer was still in place, pinned beneath the makeshift bandages. With a hand she tested her injuries, she was sore, and her flesh pulled and stung where the Hollow had clawed her or the rocks scratched her. But other than the flesh wounds and bruising she seemed to be okay, no broken bones, and what could've been a concussion given her impact with the ground was only a minor headache. Miraculously, her hakama had just survived, though it was blood-stained and even more ragged than before. _

_ She looked to the boy, to find staring at her with some trepidation. "Did you do this?" she asked with a soft smile plucking the edge of the bandages. Seeing that she didn't seem to be angry he cautiously returned the gesture and nodded, "Yeah, I didn't have money for gauze so I kinda just used your haori, it was a goner anyway and you had that under layer besides..." he trailed off, glancing at a bloody pile of rags in the corner, probably whatever had been left over when he shredded the thing. Then his eyes jumped back to her, "You thirsty?" he asked, seeming suddenly eager. _

"_Yes, very, do you have any water?" she replied. He nodded eagerly, "Yeah, just a second!" he jumped to his feet and darted to the doorway fiddling with something, it sounded like a barrel, on the other side. But she heard the splash of liquid, followed by him returning with a long handled cup, which he handed over to her upon sitting down. She drank deeply, it tasted a bit leafy, probably rain water but beggars couldn't be choosers. Polishing it off, she handed it back to him, and leaned over so he could put it by the door. She swept the blanket off of her and carefully pulled herself into a seiza position so she could look at the –__**her**__-sword. It was too long to draw in the room, she carefully pulled out the first few inches, and the gleaming steel shined happily back at her. The gleaming grey tsuba she noticed had a pattern; some five harshly angles depressions that were very evenly space. It took some creative angling to get a better look at it but if she had to guess the embossing on the upperside was supposed to be a paw print of some kind. _

"_So um, Lady, I normally don't offer this y'know seeing as I'm a loner by nature" he started, and she noted that his bravado was back, half concealing his obvious nervousness, "But y'know since you obviously need a little help even with that fancy sword of yours, you can stay for a while, I don't mind" She smiled at the kid's spunk, "Thank you for the offer, but I'm leaving right now actually" "What?" he yelped, and she saw there was fear painted on his face, "Are you crazy? Did you see the size of that Hollow? What if there are others!" _

_ She considered him for a moment, he was a kid, she saw right through it; He'd been just as scared, just as in danger from that thing as she had been, having been within screaming distance of it when it had attacked her. Her wanted her to stay, cause he wanted her to protect him. "There are too many Hollows out here. Too many gangs. Pimps. It's dangerous to stay here any longer" she explained, he looked like he might protest but she cut him off, "I'm going to the inner districts" His teeth snapped shut with an audible snap, so she continued, "There are less Hollows there right? And I have spiritual power, this much proves it for sure if the hunger hadn't already" She gestured to her sword, "It'll be easier to buy food with money, and money will be easier to get in the inner districts. I can find a job that doesn't involve selling my body" He seemed to shrivel a bit, as though his world had shattered. _

_ So she reached out and put her hand on his head. "You can-should- come with me" she said once his eyes met hers. They widened almost impossibly so, and he looked for all the world as though her statement had been a life changing moment, which she thought inwardly it probably was. "You'd let me?" he asked, incredulous, staring up at her in awe as she stood. She nodded. "Of course, why wouldn't I? If you want to come with me I'll do my best to keep you safe. And fed" she added as an afterthought, and he stood so abruptly that she was surprised he hadn't jumped on the spot, still looking as though he couldn't believe what she said. "It's a long way though. I can't promise this is going to be easy. This far out its going to be several days walk just to reach anything resembling civilizat-" "I'll come!" he interrupted, grabbing her hand, clinging to it like a lifeline, and she looked down at him surprised. "I'll come" he repeated, albeit more softly._

_ She simply stood and stared for a moment, then laughed and reached up with her other hand to push his bangs out of his eyes. He had green eyes... _

_ ...He had eyes like Shippo... _

" _My name is Kagome Higurashi" she said, smiling as his eyes lit up. "I'm Nobooru... Nobooru ..Higurashi...?" he asked hopefully. She gave a soft laugh, remembering the makeshifts families she'd heard and seen, if he wanted her family name... "Higurashi Nobooru... No, I guess I should call you Otouto"_

_ The grin that split his face made even the sun dim for moment._

"SHIT!" Nobooru yelled without warning, lunging backwards away from her. She jerked out of her internal musings, surprised by his raucous yell and the way he was pointing to the ground at her feet, which she promptly reacted by lifting up off the ground and tucking against her chest. "What is it?" she asked, looking around where her feet had been, confused. "I dunno!" he yowled, "A rat?"

She looked at him, bemused. Then stood and crouched so that she could look under the step. She looked into the darkness and then shot her hand forward to grab the small bundle of brown.

"Don't touch it!"

"Calm down... it's not a rat"

"Well what is it?"

"What is what?" they both turned to the doorway of the courtyard to a young man in his late teens standing there. He was a student, with short hair a deep shade of red-brown that resembled aged cherry, and made the stunning colour of his hazel eyes stand out all the more. The Zanpakuto in his right hand had a brilliant golden tsuba and red hilt wrapping. "What did you find?" he asked, walking over to where they were.

"I assure you it's nothing that would interest you Takashi-kun" she said with a queer smile and carefully opening her hands to her brother to show him what it was. Inside was a bundle of ruffled brown feathers, a sparrow, with one wing drooping out at an awkward angle and a rusty stain running up over its flank. It simply laid, exhausted, in her palms its small gasping breaths apparent. "A sparrow?" Nobooru asked leaning in. He blinked seeing its bedraggled appearance and gained a slightly unhappy expression, "Looks like a cat got at it" She nodded, shooting a glare at Takashi's back as he scoffed and wandered back to where he'd been.

"Nobooru" she said authoritatively, and he lifted his gaze to hers, "Give me your hands"

He leapt back away from her but bumped into the stair and fell back in a graceless heap. She laughed, but reached out with one hand and pulled him into a proper sitting position. "C'mon now, I'm serious. You've just started healing kido right?" He looked up, "Yesterday! I just pulled it off on a test dummy, I can't actually heal anything!"

She heard another scoff from the doorway and shot Takashi an acid filled glare. "Trust me, Nobooru. You pick up kido like a fish takes to water. Animals don't have much to them, it doesn't require a particularly powerful or skilled bit of healing" He looked up her thoughtfully, considering her words, then back down at the wounded bird cupped in her hands. Slowly he brought his own up to cup beneath hers and she parted them, letting the sparrow drop into his palms.

He looked down at it for a moment blinking at the decrepit creature then glanced quickly back up at her. She nodded at him encouragingly, and he lowered his head, focusing his reiatsu into his hands, surrounding the bird. She could see the shimmer around his hands, but knew by the lack of soft green light he wasn't focusing.

Opening his eyes, he glared furiously and growled, "Aaahhh! It's not working, here you do it" She shook her head, "No way, c'mon you're not trying. Just... try feeling for the bird's reiatsu, it's weak because it's just an animal but it's still there, it's still a soul. Feel it, recognize it, and then just let your reiatsu do the rest" He scowled up at her, and she brushed her hand across the top of his head, "C'mon, calm down, take a deep breath and try again" He sighed, looking at the bird again, seeming to study it for a moment. He blinked then carefully closed his hands around the bird and took a deep steadying breath, reaching out with his reiatsu to feel the small creature in his hand, as she'd said, then-

"Oh just give up Kagome!" Takashi snapped in a huff from the other side of the courtyard, "He's only just a second year, healing kido in an applied form is way above him. Just put that thing out of its misery and –" Whatever he was going to continue caterwauling about was promptly cut off by his choke of shock at the brilliant emerald reiatsu that haloed her brother's hands. It slowly faded and she smiled broadly to herself as Nobooru opened his hands and stared down at the contents.

The sparrow, having felt its weakness and pain fade, stood on its feet in his palm immediately, gave a few admittedly startled sounding trills, and then promptly took flight in a flurry of brown feathers.

"It worked!" Nobooru cheered, jumping to his feet and grinning broadly as he watched the small bird flutter away over the wall. She bumped her elbow against his arm, gaining his attention, then put her hand on his hand and couldn't help but feel a bit proud of him. "I knew you could" she said matter-of-factly, and promptly tried to muss up his hair. He gave a bark of irritation but whatever he was going to yell was cut off by a few short slow claps coming from the doorway.

She looked over sharply, certain that Takashi would never in a hundred lifetimes applaud her for doing anything, but her eyes landed on a familiar willowy man with short silver hair, the source of the clapping, and his younger companion with long blonde hair which dipped elegantly over his left eye, who had a soft smile on his face.

"Gin! Izuru-kun!" she cried happily, turning to them with a delighted bounce as they strode over to her. "Hey Kagome-chan" the silver haired drawled out, folding his hands into his sleeves. Izuru gave a soft laugh and said, "Kagome-san, you won't be able to refer to us so familiarly once you become a Squad officer you know" She laughed in return, giving a little mock salute with her fore and middle finger, and replied easily, "Then I shall enjoy it while it lasts. Onabara-sensei said some people were coming, but I didn't think you two would be here. I haven't seen you two in a while"

Izuru ducked his head a little guiltily, but Gin just grinned a little more, like the cat that caught the canary before saying, "Well we had to come and congratulate you when we heard they put you up for early graduation, Kagome-chan; You nearly bet my record, y'know" She laughed, "I'm not quite sure it deserves congrats yet, all things considered" but she couldn't help but flush despite this, pleased by the subtle compliment.

"Kagome-san" said a voice authoritatively from the entrance way, and she leaned over to spot her teacher standing there beside Takashi, watching her amusedly. "Sensei" she greeted. "Come, I want you and Takashi-san to introduce yourselves" She glanced amused at Gin and Izuru, then stepped around them and came to over to where Satoshi was at, and upon seeing how many others had come felt surprised and embarrassed she hadn't noticed right away.

In addition to Gin and Izuru, there were three other Captains and another whom, judging by her arm band, was a Lieutenant.

Aizen-taicho, with his calm politely interested expression, she recognized pretty readily, mainly because both of her roommates were major fans of his calligraphy classes and had taken her with them on multiple occasions. She didn't recognize the small female Lieutenant, with black hair done up in a small bun and long bangs framing her face, but the way she stood next to Aizen suggested that she was his. The other two she didn't recognize, but were very... interesting... to say the least.

The one that drew her eyes first was ... oddly dressed. In addition to the usual captain's haori, he wore a brilliantly pink, gaudy looking, flowered kimono. Around his middle was a long and flowing pale blue-green sash which she inwardly thought might've looked nice if not for the ridiculous kimono. Atop his head was a very plain, and slightly worn looking, straw hat though and she noticed he wore no tabi socks with his sandals. His hat was tilted so it obscured part of his face but she caught sight of bright, brown eyes, thick brown hair in a low ponytail, and an unshaven face. She also noted the fact that despite his somewhat ridiculous appearance, he had two Zanpakuto, and was subtly observing the two of them as they stood beside each other.

The other one was much more what one expected to see when it came to a taicho. He wore just the white haori as expected, without any variations. He had brilliant green eyes and an interested expression. But right away she noticed that probably the most interesting feature was that his long untied hair was the purest white, which inwardly she was intrigued by; She had seen a lot of different hair and eye colours here in Soul Society, but not _white._

She couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness at the reminder of InuYasha that it brought up. Not for the first time, she found herself missing him like a hole in her heart. But she smothered the thoughts...

They stood close enough together that she couldn't help but think they were close friends, and judging by the sheer presence of their reiryoku, even at such a smothered and relaxed level, told her they were powerful. She wasn't certain but she thought she might know who these two were based on what she'd read about Soul Society and its Captains. If she was right, then they were Ukitake of the thirteenth, and Kyouraku of the eighth, which made them probably the oldest and most powerful Captains in Soul Society after the Head Captain himself.

She turned expectantly to Takashi next to her and gestured for him to begin, which he was all too pleased to do. He stood up straighter, lifting his head, and puffing up proudly, then spoke with that air of superiority that drove her insane, "I am Kumoi Takashi, grandson of Kumoi Gyoukaku". As tempted as she was to mime him she didn't, knowing sensei would probably try to strangle her; he was under enough stress as it was, and she suspected that Takashi's rude introduction was causing him an aneurism . Really though, if Takashi was from such a 'noble' family one would think he'd at least be able to afford some manners.

She looked to them and smiled, bending at the waist in a polite bow, "My name is Higurashi Kagome" She straightened, then hearing the bells just behind her, knew that Nobooru had walked over to her with her zanpakuto, presuming correctly that she'd need it, so she smiled and added, "The squirt behind me is my Otouto, Nobooru" She heard a choke, and knew that he was blushing, furious.

But the Captains didn't seem fazed, although Ukitake gave an encouraging smile and said, "That was an impressive bit of tutelage just now, Higurashi-san" She was pleased by the compliment, surprised that he'd arrived in time to see her help Noboru pull it off, but admitted readily, "I'm not that good really". She put her hand on Nobooru's head, noticing his intensified flush to have so many eyes on him, "It just helps that Nobooru has a knack for Kido; he just gets impatient sometimes. Speaking of..." she glanced back down at him, "You better get going or you'll be late for class. Can't have Yamada-sensei scolding you" He nodded in agreement and brought Kogitsune up for her. She took her Zanpakuto and quickly slipped it over her head so it ran diagonally across her back, feeling Kogitsune vibrate happily in her mind as she tightened the silvery black sash that was attached to either end of the sheath.

Nobooru turned to walk away from them and as he did she reached out a hand, snatching back her ribbon. He spluttered as his bangs fell abruptly down into his eyes, then glared fiercely over his shoulder at her. She waved at him happily, and he grumbled furiously, storming away with a fierce flush on his face as she snickered to herself.

"You shouldn't antagonize him so much, Kagome-san" Izuru said, watching as she put her hair back up into its ponytail. "I'll stop antagonizing him when he stops making it so easy; He needs to learn to control his temper" she explained, pushing her bangs up off her forehead. Onabara looked at her and shook his head gently, "Let us move to the practice grounds shall we?"

It was a short walk, one which she spent mostly by idle chatter with Izuru. He taught an optional class about haiku at the Academy on occasion, which of late had been the only times during which she saw him. Since there hadn't been one in a while, she hadn't seen him in a few weeks, and hadn't seen Gin in a few months. She privately hoped they'd stick around for a while after so she could chat with them.

"Ah here we are", Onabara-sensei sighed, and Kagome stepped in next to Takashi as Izuru wandered over to where Aizen-taichō, and thus his Lieutenant, were standing a little off to the side. Apparently the two fukutaichō knew each other because she waved happily at him and they struck up a brief conversation.

"Now then you two, why don't you demonstrate your skills for the Captains, seeing as they came..."

Whatever he was going to continue saying was ignored by the both of them, as they each simultaneously turned toward the other. Blue clashed with hazel as they stared fiercely at each other.

This was an old fight; She and Takashi had entered in the same year and been almost equals in ability ever since. And while her intention had never been to get involved in Takashi's petty rivalry he'd started over some perceived slight, presumably one that she'd undoubtedly never understand, the man irked her in the worst ways. She was his superior in Zanjutsu, but he was her superior in Kido, so they had -and still were - often put together. Against each other they tended to be about equal; Currently, the score was 94-86 in her favor, but it had changed many times in the year and a half they'd known each other.

Her initial tentativeness upon coming to the academy had once been an aid in her defeat, but over time she'd grown stronger, both emotionally and physically, and recently more and more the score was in her favor.

So here they were, bolts of lightning shooting from their eyes as they once again butted heads. Her glare was calm, steady, and had a coldness to it that would've made even Sesshōmaru proud: His was patronizing, superior, and had a faintly disgusted looking edge to his sneer.

"First blood?" she bit out, offering the terms they usually used when sparring against each other; It was simple enough, first one to shed blood lost.

"Acceptable" he hissed, "Anything goes?" He was referring to a mix of Zanjutsu and Kido, as sometimes they only did one or another.

"Naturally" she smirked, feeling a fox grin split her face – Gin was being a bad influence again-and felt Kogitsune stir for a moment, but almost immediately he did the mental equivalent of a yawn in her mind. He had stopped being interested in their quarrels, or any of her fights for that matter, months ago and recently only showed any interest in what, or who, she was fighting if she was trying to use her shikai, which she was more or less banned from using on Takashi for the time being because it wasn't clear exactly what her shikai entailed or was trying to accomplish.

In a mirror image of each, their hands shot to the hilt of their Zanpakuto. She felt Kogitsune's bells chime at the sudden impact of her hand, and caught the golden glint off Takashi's tsuba as his hand did the same. Before she even got a moment to draw, a familiar sly voice interrupted their tense stand-off.

"Excuse me, Onabara-san" Gin said, polite, and yet with a slightly facetious tone, "Seeing as Kagome-chan and Takashi-kun-" Here she smirked inwardly, knowing that Takashi was undoubtedly pissed over being addressed so familiarly by one of the taichō he hated most of all, but she digressed "- are obviously so very familiar with each other's fighting styles, perhaps they'd each show their capabilities better if, rather than sparring with each other, they each had a friendly spar with one of us Captain's hm? I'm sure it would be a great learning experience for them"

In the silence that followed his suggestion Kagome thought she heard the universe laughing at her...Or maybe it was just Kogitsune.

She, and Takashi too apparently, had enough sense to stare stunned at each for a moment before looking incredulously at Gin, who himself was on the receiving end of more than their two incredulous stares. Onabara-sensei simply stammered uselessly, Kyōraku looked surprised but intrigued, as though considering his words, although Ukitake looked like he might protest it. Izuru looked to Gin with the curious expression of horror that one might have when watching a slow train wreck, and Aizen's fukutaichō, whose name she was going to have to ask for from Izuru afterwards, was simply looking frantically back and forth between her Captain and the other people present as though not sure what to make of the situation.

She glanced to Aizen, but he was mostly obscured from her position by being on the far side of Gin and Kyōraku, so she didn't catch his expression, although she did catch his words. "Hm, Ichimaru-taichō might be making a valid point, Onabara-san. Higurashi-san and Kumoi-san are clearly very familiar with each other; They are more capable of predicting their opponents tactics, and obviously will limit themselves to certain techniques if they know something isn't going to work. It would be a greater demonstration of their skills and their ability to think on their feet, I think, if they were each to have a friendly spar with one of the Captains present yes?"

Scratch what she'd said before; If Gin stuck around after this little stunt she might try to strangle him. She wouldn't have gotten out bed this morning if she'd known the bastard was going to do this to her, and he _would_ be hearing of how annoyed she was with him after this. Worst of all, she was pretty sure even smooth talking Takashi wouldn't be able to worm their way out this, not when two Captains had basically requested in no uncertain terms that they show off a bit.

She pulled her hand away from Kogitsune's hilt and turned towards the assembly with a seemingly polite smile, which belied her desire to punch Gin quite unrestrainedly in the eye the first chance she got, and said lightly "It _is_ just a spar, I wouldn't be opposed to mixing things up a bit sensei"

Onabara snapped out of his stunned stare and glanced between the two Captains, then glanced to her and Takashi as thought unsure. "Well yes I suppose you make a very valid point. Well... shall you and Ichimaru-taichou spar with them?" he asked, looking between the two. Kagome knew that if Gin was going to be sparring with her she was going to make sure to make a pain in the ass out of herself and lock him in a level 60 Bakudo over this little stunt of his. It probably wouldn't work with him being a Captain and all but at least she'd feel better.

"Actually" Kyōraku piped up, "I would like to spar with Takashi-kun" She inwardly laughed at his expense, and watched as Kyōraku-taichō gave a good natured smile to both Aizen and Gin, adding, "So long as neither of you object of course" Aizen returned his expression with a polite smile, "Of course not Kyouraku-taichō. I for one would rather be spectator on this particular occasion"

Gin levelled her a sly grin and said casually, "I guess it's you and me then Kagome-chan"

She couldn't hide the frown, she was just as ineffective at figuring out his expressions as anybody else, but her miko abilities made it easier for her to _feel_ people's emotions, which was in part the reason she was so comfortable around him. She didn't need to look at his grin and try to figure if it was his, 'I'm-not-up-to-anything-but-I want-you-to-think-I-am' grin or the 'I'm-here-to-mess-with-you-until-you-forget-what-you-were-doing' sneer; She'd just reach out with her mind and figured out his emotions for herself instead. It didn't seem to be either at any rate, and she was just about to wonder exactly whether or not sparring with her had been his goal all along when Ukitake spoke up, "Well in that case, I shall spar with Higurashi-san, if neither of you oppose"

She was going to kill Gin when this was over. It wasn't enough that she was going to have to fight a Captain, but now she was going to have to fight probably one of the oldest, strongest in all of Soul Society and make an even bigger fool of herself.

...the laughing was definitely from Kogitsune.

But she twitched at the politely hopeful expression Ukitake-taichou was giving her and knew she wouldn't be able to find it in herself to try and squirm her way out. She had always been too eager to please, but people who looked at her with those courteous and mildly eager expressions she'd never been able to turn away.

It didn't help any that she was a sucker for those long pure white locks; She secretly longed to touch them and feel if they had the silken texture they looked to have or if they were slightly coarse, almost fur-like, like InuYasha's.

So she painted a smile on her face and replied "Of course not Ukitake-taichou, I'd consider it an honour"

She really did consider to be an honour, and couldn't help but feel a ripple of excitement run down her back as he brushed past her so they could stand a little farther away, out of the way of Takashi and Kyouraku's spar. However, getting her ass kicked on her day off hadn't been on her list of plans.

So as her new sparring partner stepped into her blind spot she shot Gin a scathing glare, which to her infuriation he merely responded with a cock of one brow upwards as though curious about her sudden dour mood. She fantasized for a second about shaving it off in his sleep, but it wasn't productive and she had someone waiting on her besides.

The smile she painted on she suspected was tinged with nervousness as she spun on the spot and trailed after Ukitake. Once he determined them to be of sufficient distance away he turned to her and said lightly, "Well shall we begin Higurashi-san?" She gave a polite smile, nodding, and replied, "Of course sir, but um... How did you want to call the end? Takashi-kun and I usually go for first blood" He seemed to think for a moment, putting his chin into the crook of his thumb and forefinger thoughtfully, then suggested, "If that is what you're used to then I see no reason why we shouldn't use that"

She twitched inwardly, not sure how she felt about attacking to wound in a case like this, where she was against what was basically one of her superior's, but reasoned that the man had been around the block a few times and that an Academy student, even a prodigy like her if she was to take Onabara-sensei's words seriously, probably couldn't do enough to draw blood to begin with.

Still, she drew her sword, feeling the sheath disappear in a small burst of shadow as she did and heard the bells on the hilt chiming ominously. Kogitsune did the equivalent of a sleeping fox lifting its ears curiously and cracking an eye; he seemed mildly interested by the concept of a new opponent, but didn't stir any further. She looked to Ukitake who seemed to be debating whether or not to draw on his own, then decided and pulled it from his sheath. His zanpakuto took the form of a rather average looking katana, with a square bronze tsuba, and a dark red hilt wrapping, but the change in the air upon its draw was palpable and she felt a slight vibration in the air like the sensation of distant thunder. She caught the fleeting scent of lightning on waterfalls and wasn't sure if it was because of the man in front of her or another confusing sensory conglomerate of Kogitsune's making.

She hadn't noticed it before, but now, seeing him with his sword in hand and a slightly more serious expression on his face, Ukitake seemed kind of...wasted; There was this thinness to him like someone who had lost quite a bit of weight in a short period of time. Now that she thought about it he and Kyōraku were about the same height but if she had to guess there was probably nearly a fifty pound difference in their weight. She wondered if maybe he'd been sick recently and recalled hearing from some of the late year students that there was a captain in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads who was frequently prone to illness. She wondered inwardly if Ukitake was him but was certain he wouldn't be up and volunteering to spar if he wasn't feeling up to it ... or at least, she hoped not.

She didn't want to make the first strike, and neither apparently did he, so for several long seconds they stared at each, sizing the other up, and she knew she was going to have to make the first move if this was going to get anywhere quickly. She cursed her luck, then shunpo'd toward him. Since everybody and their dog used the shunpo technique to quickly get behind their opponent she avoided using it this way and came at him from a sharp angle on his left side. He was right handed so it forced him to twist across to block her blade as it came down on him.

The screech of metal as they clashed and locked hilts smarted her ears, but it gave her a second to note that his expression looked mildly surprised, and wondered briefly if it was due to her aggressive tactic or the strength of her swing.

Whatever the reason she didn't get a chance to linger on it, because Kogitsune without warning was doing the mental equivalent on standing on her shoulders looking down over her head on what they were doing. It almost made her want to beat him back into the hindground but he seemed beyond excited and was actually laughing out loud in her mind.

It was very distracting but she noticed Ukitake glance surprised down into the katana in his own hands and realized that whatever it was, his zanpakuto was either able to feel Kogitsune's sudden alertness, or it itself was also being strange. She'd read somewhere that zanpakuto spirits could freely communicate with each other when their blades crossed, and wondered if maybe Kogitsune was just excited to meet a spirit that wasn't Takashi's.

But she digressed, Kogitsune's behaviour aside she had a spar to deal with. She took one hand away from the hilt, straining slightly with the sudden weight that fell on her other, and pointed one finger at Ukitake. Distracted by whatever was up with the Zanpakuto he didn't notice right away until she spoke, and when she did, his surprise was evident, "Bakudo 61: Six-Staff Light Prison!" To her greatest irritation he wasn't surprised enough to get caught up in the golden spikes of magic that merged on his location and with shunpo manoeuvred out of the way.

The golden kido collided on itself without a target and fizzled out of existence after a few seconds. Ukitake hadn't moved far and she was preparing to lunge at him again, when he spoke to her and the impressed tone made her stop, "A level 60 kido without an incantation, that is ... quite astonishing" He seemed to be sizing her up a bit more than he had before, and she felt oddly pleased with herself despite the fact that the attack had failed. Bakudo 61 and 62 were the highest she could cast without the incantation, but she'd only recently just started being able to do that- she hadn't even gotten a chance to use them on Takashi in a spar yet- and as a result she couldn't quite get them off as quickly or stealthily as she could some of the lesser numbered bakudō that she could also cast without incantation.

She grinned, feeling the urge to cut loose a bit and Kogitsune growled in delighted agreement. Takashi and she were fairly evenly matched but it wasn't like they ever went all out against each other. For one it would be too destructive to the training field, but additionally the likelihood that one would seriously wound the other meant that Onabara-sensei usually kept them restricted to kido below a certain level and to a small fighting area. But Ukitake was enough above her she was pretty sure she could show off without harming him, though the training field was probably going to need to be fixed.

Behind her, where she was faintly aware of the power emanating off of Kyōraku's blades, she heard Takashi take her bakudō as an indication to pick it up a little and he fired off a very fast sounding Sokatsui without the incantation. Last she'd checked that was the highest hado he could fire without the incantation, but the speed with which he'd casted made her wonder if he wasn't working on the next one already.

It made her want to show off some more.

She blamed Kogitsune; he _was_ a fox after all.

"You have no idea how much I can do" she said, feeling a little proud and playful now that she'd managed to impress him. He smiled a bit apparently pleased by her sudden enthusiasm.

She pounced.

Forgoing a side attack she went head on, a strategy in mind. She moved as if to attack his chest and felt more than saw his blade come up to parry it. Again she removed her hand from her sword, and the faint iridescent sphere in her hand blocked the blade's path with a sharp flare of power. She saw his eyes widen at the fact his blade had been stopped so easily and she brought her now free sword down, aiming to graze his collarbone. But he expertly lifted his off-hand and in a mirror play, did the same technique, halting her sword's down curve, and the force of his superior Seki bounced the blade back with what she was almost certain would've been violent force had she not seen it coming; She pulled back enough at the last second that the force didn't throw her off entirely but sent her stumbling back a few steps from being off balanced with the weight of his sword still fighting her other hand.

Unfortunately with her sword having been repelled the way that it had, it had been forced back and up over her shoulder, which left her front wide open. Not for the first time she cursed the length of her zanpakuto. The nodachi was long, longer than most swords, so she could get within striking distance of her target without being in _their_ striking distance if she played her cards right, but it made it more difficult to wield in a tight area, and more relevant to her current problem, it was harder to snap the long blade back into place to defend herself if it was shunted aside. She wondered what insane deity had designed that she should end up with a nodachi nearly as long as she was tall for a zanpakuto and then went ahead and named it "Little fox"; she was _not_ impressed.

Ukitake slipped in front of her and brought his now free blade down to take a swipe at the inside of her arm. She was forced to shunpo out of the way or get cut, but as she flicked back into existence, indulging in trying to get behind him, he turned expertly fast and there was another scream of metal as their blades collided. The force pushed her back several inches but she held her ground.

Such was the force however she almost didn't see his other hand lift and point a finger at her, aiming for her right shoulder area. Her eyes widened but instinctively she felt the gather of power at the tip as Shō, so she quickly reigned in her reiryoku, tightening and concentrating it and, to her irritation, felt some of her mikoki get sucked into the action. At the moment he released the spell a thin barrier shield , a faint pink colour owing to the mikoki residue, shimmered into existence over her shoulder and down a little over her chest, which with a flash and a loud thump, deflected the weak hadō upwards and away from her.

It caught him off guard enough that she was able to pull off her next stunt, she dropped her weight at the same time she angled her blade, sending his zanpakuto screeching along the edge of hers-she apologized inwardly when she felt Kogitsune flinch a little in pain-until the force of his own pressure sent him leaning forward over her, off balanced. From her semi-crouched position she launched herself back upwards, bringing her blade up at an angle to, hopefully, graze his arm.

But, quick as a greased fox, Ukitake pivoted, and she saw him twist his arm. Her surprise came when he, deliberately, pivoted into her side and caught her sword just barely under his, and then with an ease that surprised her, forced them both almost vertically downward, where they both stabbed into the ground beside her right foot.

She was surprised by the move, and knew without pulling that he wasn't going to let her sword up again very easily. She didn't get a chance to think about what to do next though because she became aware of a sharp, but tell tale stinging on the inside of her right knee and looked down to the source. Her lips twitched upwards when she understood what had happened. When Ukitake had locked his sword against hers and forced them both downwards, the slight curve of Kogitsune's nodachi form had dragged along the inside of her knee ever so slightly... but still more than enough to leave a clean slice about the length of her hand on the knee of her hakama, and a small stinging nick about an inch long below it.

She sighed, and couldn't help a slight chuckle as she did before smiling over her shoulder at Ukitake who stood more or less behind and next to her, "I yield" The man just laughed whole-heartedly and she felt the pressure on her wrist weaken as he shift behind her, then pulled his zanpakuto upwards, causing Kogitsune to slide free a bit as well.

He stepped respectfully out of her personal space and sheathed his weapon, and she mirrored the movement, feeling the sheath rematerialize as she did. Ever the proper one, Kagome sank into a customary bow and spoke, "Thank you for the spar Ukitake-taichō". She straightened in time to see him bow his head respectfully in return, and reply honestly, "It was my pleasure, Higurashi-san. Shall we go join the other spectators?"

She was almost confused but then noticed out of the corner of her eye that Takashi was still fighting Kyōraku-taichō. She found this briefly surprising but then considered that she and Ukitake-taichō's spar had been fairly short. But as she trailed after Ukitake's back towards where the others were standing she realized it may've been more to do with their fighting styles rather than the briefness of her own spar. Takashi was much more on guard -nervous she almost wanted to say- than when she and he normally fought, retreating nervously from Kyōraku's twin blades frequently and trying to supplement his katana with hurried hadō shots. They also weren't using the first blood call they she and he usually used. Rather Takashi seemed to be targeting Kyōraku's hat, and the taichō in turn targeted Takashi's blue sash about his waist. That certainly made it interesting, but Takashi's frequent retreats and Kyōraku's chattiness seemed to be dragging it out.

"Ah, yes, after you taichō" she said happily, and he returned it with a polite smile and strode past her.

She felt Kogitsune stirring restlessly in her soul and felt now that her fight was over that his excitement was about so much more than just a new and powerful opponent. As she trailed after the older man, she reached inwardly and asked "Kogitsune? What is it? What's wrong?" He stilled, in a way that told her he'd heard her question, but he said nothing –he never did- and just settled back down in her mind. She blinked, clearing away the vague image of a shadowy fox, and immediately her eyes settled on Ukitake's back, where the logo for squad thirteen sat. She hadn't thought about it before but now that she had a moment to ponder a bit, she realized something else about the taichō in front of her...

He smelled like thunderstorms...

She quirked her lips, not sure why she'd noticed or why it seemed to make Kogitsune so pleased, then trotted along after him. 

* * *

><p>Tadaa! Wow, it seems so long -11,000 words~20pages- and then I sit down and read it and it's like "What? Over already?" Lol

In any case, there's Chapter 1 folks! Got to meet some people, see what's happened to Kagome, how she's gotten here.

Hmmm... she's pretty chummy with Gin eh. Maybe we'll find out why in chapter 2 ^w^

As promised, dictionary below. Some words aren't actually used in this chapter, or at least not in Japanese, but I figured I'd better put them here just in case. Also, sorry about the mysterious recurring "ō" that occasionally gets used. My symbol replace only started working at the end, so there are long o's not shown on words where they're altually supposed to be. I went back and fixed some of them but everytime I go through it again I find new ones. Some of them also got replaced with "ou".

All done! CrowFeathers out :D

Dictionary:

Kido = lit. Dark road ; Translated as "Demon arts" by viz. Broad term for the magic used by Soul Reapers

Hado = "Attack/destructive" kido

Bakudo = "Defense/barrier" kido

Shakkaho = lit. Red Fire Cannon; Commonly used Hado, red ball of energy that can be fired at target

Sokatsui = lit. Blue Firefall; Similar to Shakkaho but bigger, more destructive, and blue

Rikujokoro = lit. Six-Staff Light Prison; Six beams of light pin target from all sides, completely immobilizes target

Zanjutsu = one the four aspects of training received at the academy, lit. Cutting technique

Taicho = Captain, also used as suffix

Fukutaicho = Lieutenant, also used as suffix

Konso = soul burial, the method by which Soul Reapers send souls of the dead to Soul Society

Reiryoku = Spiritual power used by Soul Reapers, Hollows, etc.

Reiatsu = reiryoku that deliberately or accidentally overflows into the air, creating pressure to frighten or incapacitate an opponent

Shunpo = flash steps, method of movement used by those with reiryoku

Mikoki = combination of miko~priestess and ki~energy

-san = overall polite suffix, can be used for anyone

-chan = familiar suffix, used for people with whom the speaker is well-known, especially girls. May also be used for children, animals, or things that want to be made to sound cute.

-kun = familiar suffix, used typically to refer to boys. Also used in professional settings by superiors when referring to subordinate women.

(No Suffix) = extremely familar, or -especially with first name- extremely rude

Otouto = little brother

Otou-san = father, first 'o' is honourable prefix which is sometimes dropped

Kogitsune = combination of ko~little/small and kitsune~fox, can also be taken as baby fox/kit


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow, this chapter managed to evolve into something nearly as long as the first 0_0

So here we have chapter 2. This was actually already finished when I posted chapter 1 but I wanted to wait to post it until chapter 3 was finished first. I figured if I only post a chapter if the one ahead of it was completed than if I ever got snagged with writer's block I'd have some leeway. But seeing as I'm a university student I figured I'd better post this chapter before my exam's start the week after next and chapter 3's more than halfway done anyway.

I'm frankly astonished by how many people Favorited this in the first twenty four hours. It was certainly a very heartening thing to find that I had to start setting an automatic filer on my email the next day. ...it was also kinda creepy for some reason... but still kinda nice.

Btw, I OWN NOTHING! Forgot to say that in Chapter 1, so please nobody sue me XP

Onwards!

* * *

><p>

Kagome sighed softly as she climbed the dormitory stairs to her room.

After her spar with Ukitake-taicho she'd been sucked into conversation about Kido with Aizen and his adorable Lieutenant, who had introduced herself as Hinamori Momo, for the ten or fifteen minutes until Takashi's spar had ended. She'd found him calm and easy to talk to, and had been very thankful for the good luck he'd added as he left after Takashi's fight was finished. It had been very heartening certainly and she thought inwardly that even if she did get passed up for Takashi it would be nice to apply for his Squad whenever she did graduate.

Although… she'd been slightly concerned to feel that Kogitsune had spent half of the conversation growling as though frustrated and the other half of it sending her images of _fish_ of all things.

It had gotten so bad at one point that she'd had to ask sensei to excuse her a moment while she went and got a drink of water and, as a result, had missed the end of Takashi's spar. She had only returned in time to watch Takashi fume about his cut sash tip which had still been pretty funny so she wasn't too disappointed.

The Captains had stuck around, asking them a few questions about what their current lessons entailed, and what they could or could not do. Most of them had been greatly surprised by the fact that she'd already learned the name of her Zanpakuto, although sensei had been quick to note that in the state of release it seemed to be primarily a kido-type and that she still didn't have enough to control over it yet so as to avoid injuring herself much less actually make it useful in combat.

Aizen had been so gracious enough as offer her some help but she'd politely declined him, saying that her Zanpakuto liked riddles –which he did, except he'd be alot more fun for them if he wasn't playing illusory charades with her when he put one forward- and would be annoyed if she got help from someone else.

They'd dispersed shortly after that, and much to her irritation, Gin and Izuru had slipped away without her notice so she couldn't even chew the former out for his little stunt.

Takashi, who'd been in a piss poor mood after his confrontation with 'that drunken disgrace' as he'd taken to referring to Kyouraku, had practically demanded another sparring session with her. It had gotten rapidly out of hand much to Onabara-sensei's horror, and had had to be called off when she'd nearly hamstringed Takashi's left leg in retaliation for a deep wound to the side of the throat that had nearly cut down the carotid. Sensei had had to call in someone from the Squad 4 Relief Station to tend to the both of them because the wounds had been so terrible, so they'd been forced to spend nearly an hour in the 'hospital wing', as the students tended to call it, shooting acid filled glares at each other from opposite sides of the room until some poor little guy who'd insisted she call him by his name Hanatarou, had arrived and quickly dealt with the injuries.

Despite the painfulness of Takashi's injury, he worked on hers first due to the severity of the bleeding which by the time he'd arrived, had soaked her kosode and was making it difficult for her to stay awake. He had given her something to compensate for the blood loss afterwards but even then she'd needed help getting back to her room at the barracks where one of her two roommates, the other still in class, had nearly had a heart attack at the sight of her blood stained clothes. After Kagome managed to calm her roommate down she changed out of her blood stained kosode and curled up on her futon for a short hour long nap.

After, she'd left to find Nobooru and have supper with him in the mess hall before going to train with him again. His afternoon class had started to introduce the basics of shunpo but the theory had just confused him so she tried to explain it to him better and walk him through it, too tired to demonstrate herself. He had managed to pull it off repeatedly at the end, but for the moment he was only able to jump about as far as his longest stride would take him anyway, and it didn't look like he was going to pick it up in the same way he could pick up kido.

By then it was starting to get dark. A few fifth years that she knew from her hand to hand combat class had waved her down, hoping for her to join them on their way to one of the local bars that the older students frequented but exhaustion was eating at her and she politely declined them before going back to her room for the night.

So with a soft sigh she slid open her dormitory door and found that both of her roommates had returned.

Asano Hana was a very tall girl, with a whole head and a half's height on her, making her probably the tallest woman Kagome had ever met. She had very long dark hair with straight-cut ends and bangs, which reminded her of Kikyo in many ways. But that was where the comparison ended; Hana, while somewhat introspective and quiet, was very polite and approachable. She was the youngest child and only daughter of some well off family in the inner districts just outside Seireitei and all three of her older brothers before her had already been through the academy and graduated into Soul Reapers. Her grey eyes flicked up from the book she was reading to greet her before dropping to the white strip of bandage she could feel attached to the side of her neck where Takashi had cut her.

Hana had been the one already back earlier today when she'd returned, and had gone a little hysterical-which, thinking back on it now, had been really funny to watch- but she seemed to find whatever she was looking for and went back to her book.

Yamaguchi Eri oppositely was quite short, only coming up to the bottom of Kagome's shoulder blades despite only being a couple years younger by comparison. Her hair only fell to just past her shoulders, and was a pale straw colour with a small portion drawn up into a ponytail. Easily excited, outgoing, and with bright green eyes always gleaming with curiosity, she reminded Kagome of a taller, blonde haired Rin in many ways. She was the only child of a lesser noble family that lived there in the Seireitei and tended to be a bit of a ditz.

Hana was a sixth year, expected to graduate at the end of the term this year. She was a bit of a brainy person who more often than not had her nose stuck in some sort of book, and as a result possibly knew more about the history and goings on of Soul Society than anyone else at the whole Academy. Despite this she didn't have any substantial merit to herself, with average scores across the board, except however for healing kido which she excelled at, and as a result had already received an offer from squad four. Recently she'd started to hear the voice of her zanpakuto and as a result Kagome expected she'd land a lower level seated position, if not immediately then pretty quickly.

Eri however was only a second year, but her family had sent her to the academy as a mere formality so she could learn a bit more about Soul Society and develop some independence. She was going to be pulled out at the end of the year whereupon she'd return to her family, presumably to start her grooming into a Hime of the lesser noble house of Yamaguchi. She was a bit of an airhead when it came to the people around her but had decent grades and loved taking all the artsy classes offered at the academy, including the calligraphy lecture from Aizen, the haiku class that Izuru offered occasionally, and one ikebana workshop that the Squad 4 Captain Unohana had come to deliver on one special occasion a few months ago. The only thing that really grated Kagome's nerves was that she was head over heels when it came to anything to do with Takashi, something which they butted heads over on a regular occasion.

She gave a grunt of exhaustion and sighed, "Evening Hana-chan, Eri-chan..."

Hana nodded her head from behind her book but didn't react any further, Eri however looked up with an excited "Kagome-chan! Where've you been all day? Hey did you do something to Takashi-kun? I heard that he was in a really bad mood at the mess hall today and- OH MY GOD! What happened to your neck? Are you hurt? Are you alright? You're not bleeding are you?" Kagome was left blinking in astonishment at the rapid fire of questions, but before she could reply Hana answered dryly on her behalf, "'Takashi-kun' tried to slit her throat"

Eri's eyes widened dramatically, "What? B-but-! Why? It was a mistake, surely!" Kagome rolled her eyes and said lightly, "I am... very sure, it was... At any rate, I'm tired, I'm going to bed 'kay? Goodnight" She felt Hana's eyes burning a hole between her shoulder blades, but the taller girl said nothing as she opened the sliding door to her small room off the common area they shared.

Her room was small, just enough space for her twin sized futon and a small set of drawers in the corner where she kept her clothes and a few books she owned. Sighing she undid the sash that held Kogitsune to her back and laid him instead gently in the gap between the head of the futon and the wall. Straightening, she peeled off her uniform, briefly looking at it.

When she'd first donned it nearly a year and a half ago all she'd been able to think about was how much it looked like a Miko robe and how much she'd look like Kikyo to be wandering around wearing it. She'd almost refused it at first but after considering it realized there was no reason for her to be sensitive about it.

InuYasha was gone. Kikyo was gone. Anyone who'd ever think to compare her to her soul's past life was gone.

Hell, _she_ was gone, when you thought about it.

Shaken from her memories by the light chatter behind her in the main room she threw her uniform over the edge of her clothes hamper then pulled on a thin cream coloured sleeping yukata. Exhausted, she climbed into her bed and lay back. For a moment she just looked up at her ceiling, rubbing at her neck where a slight stinging persisted. Hanatarou had informed her that, although the wound was sealed up, there would be a painful red welt where it was for another day or so and she could take the bandage off tomorrow night when she went to bed.

Tired she closed her eyes, and felt the familiar sinking sensation of sleep start to creep up on her… followed almost immediately by the familiar disorienting jolt as she fell into Kogitsune's world.

Kogitsune for all his interference with her thoughts on a daily basis was perhaps the single quietest creature she had ever met. The number of times he'd talked to her, since she'd first manifested his blade some three years before, she could count on one hand and it had last been about six months ago, when she'd learned his name. Yet it didn't seem to be for lack of wanting to talk, more that he simply couldn't. But for all that he couldn't make his opinions vocal he was very big on communication nonetheless.

Her sleep was his world.

Rarely was it she could lay down without being sucked into the Alice in Wonderland like world of Kogitsune's domain. His illusions and landscape varied from the tame scene of the Bone Eater's Well clearing, his favorite judging by how frequent it was- where he'd often summon canvases as tall as she was to illustrate picture stories, or occasionally write a bit of haiku or some riddles- to the grandest she'd ever seen which had been a huge unending void of space, complete with billions of stars, and brilliant shimmering blue tailed comets soaring past her. Sometimes they were strange and obscure, filled with metaphors and comparisons that were incomprehensible because they were rooted in a psychology that was barely human. Occasionally they featured illusory copies of people from her past, but the voices would be mixed up or someone would be wearing something ridiculous.

During the day when she was about her classes he'd send her fleeting bits of imagery, sometimes for no apparent reason than the fact that the thought had just occurred to him and he felt the need to share it, or he'd reach out and touch her mind so she could sense what he sensed, which almost invariably left her senses so confused she ended up tasting or smelling things that shouldn't-_couldn't_- be smelled or tasted; Like the whole lightning on waterfalls scent she'd picked up when Ukitake had drawn his blade on her earlier that day.

It was on the whole pretty common and, more importantly, _annoying_; There were only so many ways for staying focused on your kido incantation when your zanpakuto spirit was _insisting_ on comparing the teacher to a walrus and not burst into laughter. Worst of all, though he didn't do this often, was when Kogitsune stepped out of thin air in front of her and manifested himself as her own private illusion; It was hard to take notes on barrier theory when one's zanpakuto spirit was sitting next to you on the desk writing riddles for you to solve _right at that moment_.

She wanted to groan as the strange scene came into existence, knowing in her heart that she was going to be back up in an hour or two. The biggest thing about Kogitsune wasn't the illusions, they were distracting and baffling certainly, but manageable; It was pretty obvious when she had the brief fleeting image of a nature scene, or a patch of shadow seemed suddenly alive, that Kogitsune was feeling playful.

But at night... he got so _busy!_

She'd spent nights, sometimes weeks as an insomniac for no other reason than Kogitsune wouldn't calm down. In many ways he was very child-like, always wanting to play, always wanting attention. It was fairly tolerable; the few hours of sleep that she would get before being drawn out her bizarre dreams tended to be alot more restful, perhaps because she was so deep in her mind. But it still left her mentally fatigued sometimes to not have the chance to let her mind just be still.

Tonight's stage appeared to be the banks of a river. Behind her was a lush and green forest edge, so dense she was certain she wouldn't be able to enter, which ended about ten feet back from the edge of a shallow but rough and aggressive moving river. The source of this river was a waterfall that plummeted downward from over a cliff so high that it disappeared into nearly pitch-black clouds roiling overhead, and had gouged a deep navy pool of water where it fell down to earth. Even as she observed the scene that Kogitsune had picked out for her there was an ominous and deafening crack of thunder directly overhead and the clouds lit up briefly with the corresponding bolt of lightning. Despite the black clouds that blotted out the sky, the land around was bright and well lit as though in full sun, and her skin felt warmed from it.

It was curious unusual imagery for her fox-like zanpakuto spirit, who generally didn't go for running water or stormy skies, but rather preferred greenery and soft clouds. She spent several seconds twisting and turning, wondering where he was, until she found his shadowy shape slightly farther down the incline. He had his back to her, with his toro laid gently on the ground beside him, batting eagerly at the water that was rippling with impossible gentleness by the edge of the pool.

"Kogitsune" she asked, watching as his head jerked up and turned to look at her with glowing blue-green slits for eyes, "What are you doing?"

He waved his paw in what was unmistakably a beckoning motion despite his impenetrable silhouette and she rolled her eyes before complying. As she approached she couldn't help but notice that the pool of water he was batting at really was extraordinarily calm; just a small circular spot maybe two and a half feet in diameter, where the aggressive frothing and waves of the monstrous waterfall some twenty feet away halted abruptly and gave away to calm clear water that rippled faintly in a circular rotation, as though something was causing a weak whirlpool.

Coming up next to his side she looked between him and the pool of water, only to realize there was something stirring just below the surface. She crouched to look closer and after a moment was surprised to find that they were fish.

Well... sort of...

They looked to be butterfly koi, two of them. Or rather, they looked what butterfly koi would probably look like if they were put on a diet; They had a thin sleekness to their bodies that koi generally didn't have, which was all the more magnified by their flowing fins and long barbels that were swept back and ended at the base of their tail. They were almost identical appearance, though with mirrored markings; One fish with orange primarily on its left side and black on its right, the other in a perfectly matching pattern but with the colours reversed. They were swimming lazily in a circle –which probably accounted for the swirling water- each chasing the tail of the other which she found slightly hypnotic to watch. Overall though they reminded her of two very small ornate dragons, and were _definitely_ outside Kogitsune's usual imagery.

She looked down to him to find his shadowy face and glowing eyes already staring back up at her. "What are they?" she asked, and felt immediately without having to see him flatten his ears in irritation, that it was the wrong question. She glanced back down at them to watch their circling, and noticed that their gleaming amber eyes stared at her as they curled by.

"..._Who_ are they?" she asked instead, and a sinister glowing grin split Kogitsune's face.

Then she jerked upright in bed, startled by the suddenness of being awake. She glanced over to her clock beside the futon and reached to cast a glow on the face with a faint burst of kido in her hand. It was only three in the morning.

She groaned.

She had hand to hand combat five hours later.

After Kogitsune's mid-night riddle she'd managed to fall asleep again but only for about two more hours- he had just filled her dreams full of fish, flowing water, and lightning all over again- and thus she had been up half the night reading bakudō incantations to pass the time.

She inwardly laughed at the thought that she wasn't really a genius at any of this stuff but that she probably spent two or three times more of her day –and night- studying what she was learning for the sheer reason that she couldn't sleep.

It was an amusing thought but it didn't make her combat class any easier.

Between being up half the night and her two spars –not to mention injury- the day before she was decidedly drained. Something which the sensei seemed to notice because he, thankfully, didn't call on her for the whole class which was comprised mostly of fifth years except for her, and a third year she didn't know but understood to be excelling in hand-to-hand combat and Zanjutsu and thus was a shoe-in for the eleventh.

Afterward was a long break period, meant for recuperating from hand-to-hand combat class, which she spent most of dozing under a tree at the back of the main courtyard where alot of students meandered around between classes or sat with friends to study. After that she'd gone to lunch, briefly stopping by Nobooru's table to ruffle his hair and – to her own embarrassment- awe a few of his friends into open jawed silence.

After, she spent most of the afternoon with the special kido instructor that was specifically set aside for students like her; People who were exceeding expectations in most areas but falling behind with certain aspects of kido.

For all her success with bakudō, her hadō was atrocious, and she was banned from casting anything above level ten by herself for risk of blowing herself up. This had puzzled her once upon a time but she thought it may have something to do with her mikoki, which was naturally adept for barriers and defensive spells anyway, but not particularly meant for attacks unless channeled through the bow and/or arrow.

It had gone as mediocre as expected, although with an interesting twist when she'd managed to botch Hadō 11 and instead of shocking the wooden target at the other end, had somehow instead magnetized it and gotten herself, along with two other students, stuck to the stupid thing for half an hour before whatever it was had worn off.

By then she'd been late for the private sparring session against Takashi that Onabara over saw almost every evening, only to learn that Takashi hadn't shown up either.

This had worked out in her favor though at any rate because since she was there and Onabara-sensei had the evening free he opted to sit and keep an eye on her while she tried to work on her shikai.

It was a rare thing for a Soul Reaper to still have so much difficulty getting a shikai to behave after learning the zanpakuto's name. But here she was; six months later with a shikai still unusable and a spirit being annoyingly tight lipped on the problem. Generally the problem with a shikai wasn't getting it under control, it was just getting to the level of trust and understanding that you knew the name of the zanpakuto. The rest just followed along.

Not her.

Because Kogitsune had to make _**everything**_ ten times more difficult than it had to be.

Which brought her to her current situation;

"Higurashi? Higurashi! Kagome!" Onabara-sensei's voice pierced the confusing black fog that had invaded her mind when she'd used her shikai. She opened her eyes and first saw the ceiling, followed by Onabara-sensei's bald head. He gave a sigh at her conscious form, reached out to help her up and returned to his spot by the wall to sit down again. Blacking out for a second every time was quite normal for her shikai release and he had seen it enough to be calm about the situation, though it didn't make it any less frustrating. Shaking her head to clear it she leaned down and picked up Kogitsune, who vibrated amusedly in her mind.

A sliding sound from the door drew her attention, thinking for a moment it might be an extremely late Takashi, but it was Nobooru. He looked between her and her sensei, who he knew very well because he was in the accelerated class for his second year, "May I watch?" he asked hopefully. She twitched, not sure if she wanted the young boy whom she'd come to care for as her little brother watching as she repeatedly fainted, but his hopeful expression caused her to crumble, and she nodded in agreement. Onabara-sensei gave no protest so he wandered over to join him.

Sighing, she looked back down to Kogitsune in her hand, and felt him perk up, interested in her next attempt to release him. She spun the blade in her hand so that it was gripped with the blade facing down like a trench knife and lowered it so that the tip touched the floor with a gentle tap. Her reiatsu spiked involuntarily at the action, and as she started to release the hilt she spoke, "Dream... Kogitsune" releasing the hilt completely from her grasp.

Rather than tipping over as expected, it stood straight and shuddered slightly on the tip. Then abruptly, like blood gushing from a wound, liquid shadow welled up from the butt of the hilt around the base of the ribbon and streamed down the blade with a mind of its own to pool with alarming swiftness at the base. It spread, racing across the floor and as it brushed past her feet were swallowed up by the incorporeal shadows. The familiar weakening sensation hit her, and the edges of her vision started to grow black. She desperately fought the blackout lashing her reiatsu against the unseen problem but ultimately succumbed to that dark confusion and the sensation not quite like falling, not quite like floating.

When she became aware of herself again she was laying confused on the ground.

Again.

This time it was Nobooru hanging over her, with an expression on his face that seemed to be a mix of surprise but also confusion. "What?" she asked, wincing at bit at the sound of her own snappish tone, and pushed herself to a sitting position so that she could glare at Kogitsune where he'd fallen in front of her.

"Onee-chan... " he started, a little tentatively, shying when she levelled her gaze on him, but continuing none the less, "Are you... resisting him?"

It was a baffling enough statement that she actually had to send it back to her ears a couple of times to confirm it; They _insisted_ they'd heard correctly.

"What?" she repeated, this time highly aggravated "Why would you ever think that? I'm trying not to black out every time, since I can't release a shikai when I'm unconscious" He seemed to look at her, look through her actually and she felt a great swell of irritation, and he replied, "Well don't resist"

Don't resist blacking out; That was like asking someone who'd put their hand down on a hot stove to suppress the reflex to pull away the now burning appendage. It was a ridiculous suggestion... She felt compelled to ignore it.

Nobooru and she had entered in the same year, and while they'd both entered the accelerated class at the same time, she'd flown upwards through the 'years'. He was making a name for himself with his ability to pick up kido, but his small stature and youth put him at a disadvantage in nearly every other aspect of training, from Zanjutsu to Hakuda. He would graduate with high grades and quite an impressive track record but his slow progress with anything that wasn't kido meant he'd probably graduate after the standard six years.

However even she recognized that Nobooru was very... perceptive, at least he was when he was standing on the sidelines and not losing his temper –which happened frequently- and it showed in his ability to pick up kido more quickly than his fellows. It stood to reason then to infer that he may have a bit more awareness about the situation than most in the room, herself included.

So she sighed, and stood, looking at him over her shoulder; He looked expectant and vaguely hopeful. She nodded her head, "Fine. Have it your way", and ignored Onabara-sensei's obvious sigh. He toddled off back to where he had been sitting previously and she looked down at the sword in her hand. Kogitsune vibrated softly in her hand, mirroring the gentle growl –the closest he ever came to purring- that echoed softly in her mindscape.

She repeated the motions; Swinging Kogitsune around to reverse her grip, placing the tip of the blade very deliberately against the floor, pulling away as it shuddered and maintained itself upright.

"Dream... Kogitsune" she called softly, and instead of watching the liquid shadows pour from her zanpakuto she closed her eyes and let the power wash over her. The familiar feeling of weakness and her being on the verge of blacking out made a brief bolt of panic shoot through her and she had to squash the urge to flare her reiatsu in retaliation. It gave way to an obscure sensation, more of an absence of sensation really, in which she wasn't quite sure if she was floating or falling. Then quite abruptly, just at the moment she fully expected to be roused from her sleepy half-conscious by her worried instructor or brother, she took a stumbling step into alertness and fell hard onto the training room floor.

Or rather... what _should_ have been the training room floor; She was pretty sure that the polished wooden floors hadn't been a host to moss about five seconds ago. She looked up, and her jaw dropped.

_**Definitely**_ not the training room.

Her surroundings seemed to have been replaced in their entirety by a dark and gloomy forest clearing. She couldn't see much of the dense trees surrounding her owing to the thick heavy fog that unfurled lazily from the gaps between the broad, slightly blackened, trunks. This same fog reduced the sky beyond the gap in the barren branches to a hazy dome of white and obscured alot of the ground at her feet. It seemed so dead, with the trees dark and bare, and the low plants and moss below her dusted grey and obscured as though covered in a thick coat of ash. She could almost smell sulphur in the air, and wondered what this gloomy place was when movement in front of her caught her attention.

Where Kogitsune's sword form ought to have been there was a flicker of black right before the spirit in question stepped out of thin air and onto the grass in front of her. He had a broad grin, practically glowing in the dreariness of her surroundings, and she felt him brush against her senses before a low growling voice drawled, "**Wellll donnnne...**"

It was an almost perfect copy of the expression and tone that he had first whispered in her soul nearly three years ago, and she felt an irrational surge of whimsy at how absurd the déjà vu was. But she understood well enough what he was saying; This is her shikai. Which was why, instead of questioning in bewilderment 'just where the hell are we', she promptly burst into laughter and felt Kogitsune settle himself around her shoulders like a scarf with his tail wagging eagerly. She simply sat back and basked in all of Kogitsune's power, stroking his incorporeal body which he seemed to enjoy greatly even though she couldn't feel anything except for the faintest sensation of something soft and silken brushing against her fingertips, like feathers or dust.

However before she could muse further there was a sudden disturbance at the edge of the clearing as Nobooru stumbled out of a particularly dense patch of fog with a startled yelp. He took in the clearing with wide eyes and weak knees before abruptly his gaze settled on her. He opened his mouth, possibly to say something, possibly just to stare in shock at her, but she never found out because before he could do anything else a larger form came tumbling out of the same cloud of fog and brought them both to the ground.

She would've gotten up and helped them but they sorted themselves out easily enough and stumbled back to their feet.

"Illusion-type!" Onabara-sensei barked without warning, and she felt Kogitsune whip his tail in a curious mixture of irritation and pride, but he continued, "Why I never-! Illusion types are exceedingly rare Higurashi-kun! You should be very proud" She might've commented but noticed Nobooru wandering up to her with a nervous expression on his face, eyes trained on the black form draped around her shoulders. "You disappear..." he started nervously, then continued at her questioning glance, "When you use your shikai; You disappear. All that black stuff from before fades away suddenly too, but the air kinda ripples where it was. And when I walked into it...it felt like I sorta fell into something"

"The illusion" she said, instinct guiding her more than anything and a glance to Kogitsune showed he was pleased by her intuitive leap, "My shikai is an illusion-type, which I can cast over an area. Anyone who is in that area or enters it becomes part of the illusion..." She reached up and stroked Kogitsune again; feeling slightly awed at the discovery of her –_their_- power. Finally she understood, grasped her shikai, and couldn't help but revel in the way her power draped her surroundings like a cowl and the delighted growls and hums that echoed in her mind from Kogitsune's preening.

Then Nobooru asked nervously, "Can you turn it off now? It's freaking me out"

She laughed softly, amused by Nobooru's slight nervousness and suspected it was in part due to him being much less used to having his senses toyed with in such a way than she. Kogitsune jumped off her shoulders and hovered in the air in front of her, his eyes narrow, mouth jagged, the glowing grin painted clear on his face as he examined Nobooru. Then he disappeared in a swirl of shadow and reappeared instead in front of Onabara-sensei to examine him as well, much to the man's nervousness. He vanished again, then appeared again at the edge of the grove, behind him the trees seemed to flicker and blur like a mirage in high sun, before the illusion began to tear apart at the seams and opened to reveal the training hall beyond the boundaries of the mirage. He stepped out the way and waved his tail towards the doorway as if to shoo them through.

Kagome's favorite haunt was a small out of the way restaurant in the West Rukon District, called Rokudō, which was _never_ closed and as a result spent its nights as a bar and the day as a tea house. However its hard to find location, a half hidden stairway to a small basement in the dark alley between two shops, and its small size, a maximum occupancy of maybe twenty people, meant it wasn't well frequented by many people; Mostly just the more crowd leery students from the Academy and some middle class Rukon District souls, with the odd Soul Reaper too shy to join his or her comrades at any of the rowdier local bars. It was quiet –usually- and not many, if any people, were there late in the day which made it one of her favorite places to lurk when Kogitsune was keeping her up.

Perhaps her most favorite thing about it was that they served a mean Oden which was always much more satisfying at the end of a long day of classes and practicing. The day and night staff knew her by name and didn't even ask what she wanted in evenings when she showed up before the usual crowd of late night drinkers; They just came over and handed off her Oden and tea and left her to her own devices for the next couple of hours.

Kogitsune's overflowing excitement at her having gotten her Shikai under control, mixed with her own anxiety of the knowledge that she'd have to join the sixth years tomorrow to oversee the first and second year's field practice in the living world with simulated Hollows, meant she was wide awake and alert with nervous energy.

She wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

So she partook in what was probably her most favorite hobby since coming to Soul Society. The ancient leather bound notebook on the table in front of her had started life as a journal to keep track of the numerous and obscure dreams –courtesy of a then unknown Kogitsune- that had plagued her upon coming to Soul Society. It had rapidly evolved into a sketchbook when she'd simply found herself unable to articulate what she saw. She hadn't been much of an artist –her drawings had been little more than nonsensical scribbles at first- but overtime she'd found it a wonderful way to get Kogitsune, or even just herself, to settle.

So her current project was mainly the Captains she'd met just the day before. A politely interested Aizen, along with his content little Lieutenant, took up most of the upper left page, the two staring at some far away point, while the bottom was taken up by an image of Kyouraku sprawled out half-asleep with his hat low over his eyes. On the other page was an image of Kogitsune dancing around his lantern with the two dragon-koi from the night before, above which she was putting the finishing touches on an image of Ukitake, all white mane and angles like an arctic fox.

She took a sip of tea, and then moved to pencil in the man's dark eyebrows when her vision was abruptly obscured by a swath of black fabric. She yelped softly as the fabric, and the arm it obscured, settled around her throat and shoulders and someone leaned down to murmur coyly in her ear, "Looks like I caught m'self a pretty lil' blackbird"

The sly voice was familiar and if not for the good mood she was in she might have still been angered by his stunt the day before. She still tried to shove her elbow backwards and dig it into his ribs, although it didn't work seeing as he was too tall and leaned practically over her. "This bird's got teeth" she replied lightly, "Get off me Gin, even someone as willowy as you gets heavy"

The puff of air against her cheek indicated a laugh but he complied, standing and coming around to sit in the chair on the other side of her small table. He was an obvious peculiarity in an establishment that rarely, if ever, saw even seated officers much less a Captain, all white haori and disarming sneer. Despite this, he hadn't seemed to have gathered much attention from the other patrons of the bar casually drinking and chatting about the room. Granted, they were clustered closer to the bar and didn't often turn their eyes towards her far corner; She wasn't even sure if someone as sneaky as Gin could even be detected without an actual effort on his part.

A fox in human form if there ever was one.

He set down a small tokkuri sake bottle and two sakazuki cups. "I don't drink Gin" she said automatically, giving him a mildly exasperated look. "Addressin' a superior officer so casually Kagome-chan..." he murmured, catching a long lock of her hair and twisting it thoughtfully between his fingers. She noted a flush to his cheeks- the faintest of colouring to his usually alabaster skin- and knew without a doubt that Matsumoto had had her claws in him already tonight; She'd met the enthusiastic strawberry-blonde once before, just after entering the academy.

To be accurate Gin had spirited her away late one evening about a month into her first semester and taken her to whatever bar Rangiku and Izuru had been at at the time. It had been the first time she'd met either of them but the older women had gotten more alcohol into her than she'd ever cared to drink _for the __**entirety**__ of her life…_

She felt compelled to avoid her.

"You're not my superior officer yet. And you're being strange" she said, catching his fingers and reclaiming her hair. She got the impression that the gaze he was settling on her was decidedly skeptical.

"Well... strang_**er**_" she corrected, putting her pencil back in to mark her place in her book and tucking it into her robes. "Have a drink with me Kagome-chan" he said, and his tone didn't leave any room for argument. She sighed and reluctantly acquiesced, gesturing for him to pour. He waited for her to take a sip before taking up his, and she visibly cringed at the sharp flavor and the way her stomach knotted in remembrance of the last night she'd ever had sake. The gentle warming sensation it bestowed on her insides however was a welcomed reprieve from the flavour.

He had a few sips but spent several moments afterward swirling it around in his cup. She thought it to be a strange motion, and considered him more fully, reaching out with her mikoki to brush against his soul. He felt... melancholy...

"Gin?" she asked softly, reaching out to brush his free hand with her fingertips. He seemed to welcome the gesture, flipping his hand over and catching her small hand in his own. For several long moments, during which Kagome's anxiety grew exponentially, he merely examined their two hands where they met, his long thin fingers dancing over her tanned skin like a large pale spider.

"What's wrong?" she asked, watching as he put his sharp chin into his other palm.

"Do you remember how we met?" he drawled casually. It was a strange question, she felt inclined to say as much, but Gin didn't seem to be in the mood for games, so she considered it seriously.

After a moment of thought she smiled honestly, and replied, "Of course … I was running for my life, as usual…"

_It was official; She __**THE WORST**__ luck of anyone who'd ever lived and probably ever would live. _

_This was the inner rukon district! Practically right under the goddamned Soul Reapers noses and there was a Hollow tearing up the district like Christmas had come early! How did she know? Because it thought __**she**__ was the present._

_And worse, there were three of them. The first had been almost depressingly easy to kill; After bursting from a storefront and into the street she and Nobooru had been wandering down, it had been confused by the dust of its own explosion and the hysterical souls running to and fro. It fell to her nodachi before it even realized she was there._

_The second and third however had been real bastards._

_Distracted by her own need to assure that Nobooru was unharmed by the explosion and following panic she'd didn't take notice of the figure rising up out the new gap in the storefronts. The boar like monster smacked her with its clawed hand – a spiked fly swatter the size of a car's engine hood- and sent her flying clear through the buildings on the opposite side of the street and into the road on the other side. _

_She laid half-conscious in the dirt, listening to the hysterical screams of nearby people running for their lives and the splintering of wood as the roof of the building she'd just gotten thrown through merrily collapsed in on itself. 'Ow' she thought inwardly, and then, just because it didn't seem enough to merely think it, spoke it aloud. _

"_Ow"_

_There, she felt better. Perhaps not as better as she would've felt had a Hollow not just drop-kicked her across two streets in the first place but one could only hope for so much. The scream of the Hollow, followed by the sound of what she suspected was him as he systematically demolished his way through the ruins of the structure in an attempt to follow after her, drew her out of her haze of half-consciousness. _

_She also became aware of a voice yelling nearby – not the hysterical screams of people running away- followed by hands landing suddenly on her shoulders. She opened her eyes, dizzily trying to make sense of the gentle blue sky and darkness at the edges of her vision. It was when the sky spoke that she realized it was a person hanging over her. "Are you alright?" the person, a man judging by the voice, asked before he gently brushed his hand against her forehead. She felt a sharp sting at the location, and knew right away she was bleeding. _

"_C'mon little bird, it's coming this way, you've gotta get up" _

_Little bird. Why was that so familiar? _

_She groaned as she became aware of the full painful extent of her injuries, reached up to bat away the man's hand, blinked rapidly and finally really looked at him. Her jaw dropped as her vision cleared properly and it finally occurred to her why his presence was so familiar. _

_She __**knew**__ the man hanging over her. _

"_Chi-...Chichue...?" she choked. _

_There were changes of course, but the middle aged man with clear blue eyes, gleaming with concern, and long black hair already streaked liberally with silver was as easily recognizable as he had been over a decade ago. Kairen Higurashi was far less wasted than she remembered him being in those last few weeks before he'd succumbed to his cancer but it was him without a doubt._

_His expression contorted nervously, "Oh boy. You really hit your head hard didn't you little bird?" She felt confusion at first, but it was followed immediately by a painful trickle of despair. _

_He didn't remember her. _

_It was only natural of course; No one who died and came to Soul Society remembered their lives in the world of the living, except for her of course. But she had hoped... When he'd called her 'little bird', the nickname he'd given her when she was still a little girl, when he'd asked if she was alright, even now as he carefully wrapped his arms around her shoulders and tried to help her to a sitting position. _

_But she supposed... even if he didn't remember her, they'd found each other. _

_She could figure it out later; right now she had to deal with the Hollow over his shoulder pulling back its arm to fill him full of more holes than he'd ever need._

"_Move!" she shrieked, pushing him harshly behind her and lunging to her feet as she drew the nodachi once more. She moved the blade into position just in time to block the talons that came crashing down to crush her and felt the recoil all the way up to her shoulders. Her righteous fury at the attempt on her father's life bled rapidly into panic at the sight of the cracks that spider-webbed outwards from the epicentres of the impact and she felt something –_**someone**_- flinch in agony in her mind. _

_There was a scream from farther down the street as another building was destroyed and she felt horror encroach rapidly at the sight of yet _another_ Hollow dragging itself out of the debris. This one, lizard-like in appearance, settled its horrid yellow eyes on where they were and in one smooth leap, came crashing onto the ground behind her, claws reaching for Kairen where he still sat shocked on the ground behind her._

"_NO!" she screamed, flaring her mikoki violently and sending her current enemy reeling back, screaming in agony. She turned and stepped into the Hollow's path, lifting her sword and shearing off the offensive creature's arm in one solid swing. Her victory was short lived; although her mikoki began to happily scorch the stump of an arm left behind, it didn't have enough bite to kill the Hollow and before she could finish the job, she was struck violently from behind and thrown farther down the street. She was distracted from her painful impact with the ground by the fact that she and her father had been thrown together and he'd taken most of the impact. _

"_Chichue!" she howled, flipping him over and reaching for his face. He was just unconscious, but the two pissed off slightly burned Hollows now stalking towards her were obviously intending to rectify that. She quickly rubbed away the blood dripping into her eye from a new cut on her forehead and stumbled to her feet with an almost animal snarl. _

"_I am going to kill both of you!" she yelled, throwing her caution to wind. Her mikoki crackled angrily through the air in response to her fury and danced down her nodachi's blade like arcing pink lightning. The swing towards them should've been too hasty, should've missed the first Hollow loping towards her now that she was standing, but the caustic power simply tore through the air space in front of her and split the top of the Hollow's mask, not low enough or deep enough to end it._

_She pulled her mikoki deliberately into her blade to try again, only to flinch at the white hot knife of pain that drove itself into her brain as she did. She yelped, and went down to one knee, her power still crackling around her, but before she could think to do anything with it through the haze of agony clouding her thoughts there was a sharp crack from her hand, and her nodachi's blade simply shattered into half a dozen pieces. _

_She stared down at the now bladeless hilt with the same sort of horrified fascination she suspected someone had whilst watching a building fire rage out of control and found she could do nothing but gape. Stunned by the sudden lack of the weapon she'd had for almost a year, she didn't even move to attempt some sort of defense as the Hollow she'd just pissed off backhanded her into a very solid plaster wall. She couldn't even manage a scream of pain as her ribs broke, merely choked as the breath was knocked out of her and didn't come back._

_The lizard Hollow hissed venomously and advanced on her, while the other turned to loom over her father with a menacing scream. She tried to yell, tried to scream, to do anything, but could only manage a strangled gasp that evolved rapidly into a choked cough as she fell away from the wall and crashed to the hard packed ground aspirating blood. The boar-like Hollow lifted its talons, already gleaming red with blood, preparing to eviscerate its oblivious prey. _

"_No!" she gasped, feeling the painful effort the one syllable had cost her and desperately fighting off the black edges of her vision._

_She had __**just**__ found him! She couldn't lose him already! _

_But she couldn't think, couldn't breathe, could only stare in abject horror as those terrible claws fell towards the prone form at the Hollow's feet. _

_Then there was a terrible shriek of agony and she opened her eyes –when had she closed them?- to see the Hollow that had been standing over her father was fading away. And hanging in the air, where it had just been standing, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver was the longest blade she'd ever seen in her entire life. Even as she watched, it turned in the air and sailed closer to her, shearing through the Hollow standing over her like it wasn't even there. _

_She had moment, a second or two to stare confused up at the brilliant blade and feel the sheer power wafting off of it before it suddenly began to smoothly retract farther down the street. She followed its progress and felt awe when her eyes landed on its source. _

_It was a man, a Soul Reaper... __**A Captain**__. _

_All black shihakusho and white haori which hung so loosely on his frame that it only magnified his tall thin willowy appearance. But his short hair gleamed silver in the mid afternoon sun and the narrow eyed grin upon his face was so... fox-like... She felt a twinge of remembrance recalling the strange shadowy fox spirit that appeared to her months before, and with an identical grin painted on its maw. _

_They seemed so similar…_

"_Who... who are you...?" she stuttered, limbs trembling with a cocktail of adrenaline and pain. The strange man's vulpine grin broadened, almost playfully so, and he replied gently, "Gin..."_

She reclaimed her hand and reached for the bottle of sake to refill his cup.

"If not for you, Chichue and I would've been those Hollows' next meals" she said softly, carefully putting the bottle back down and reaching to finish her first cup before continuing with her train of thought, "With Kogitsune I'd always thought I could take care of myself, that I was strong enough. Then I was in trouble and you saved me, and you were the first Soul Reaper I'd ever met for myself. I mean, I never liked fighting or wanted to be powerful or anything... but... I couldn't stand by powerless again, not after spending so long on the sidelines"

She trailed off, leaning back in her chair and wondering inwardly when the mood had become so dour, before quirking a soft smile and adding, "It's because of what you did for me that day that made me want to try to become a Soul Reaper at all. I never realized until I met you how powerless I really was. You were so strong, without even having to try. I wanted to… I don't know… change… myself, wanted to be something more than a Rukon street rat who barely understood her own power"

Gin's face was oddly relaxed looking, something she attributed to his grin being half-hidden behind the curve of his palm, but he felt strange when she reached out with her soul, a confusing myriad of emotions she couldn't really pin down.

"So are you going to tell me what's really bothering you or are you just going to keep being strange?" The grin that came over his face was sinister, or possibly just playful. She was willing to bet on the latter judging by the way he reached out and tugged on a lock of hair near her temple.

"Ow!" she yelped, nearly dropping her sake cup as she reached up to massage the hurt, "What was that for?"

"Felt like it" he replied, downing his cup quickly and refilling both. "Well it hurt" she whined, tucking her hair back behind her ears where –hopefully- it would be out of Gin's reach.

"Why is it that every time you're in a mood, _I'm_ the one you pick on?" "I have no idea what yer talkin' about Kagome-chan"

She felt a short but obvious surge of irritation at his facetious tone and replied a bit waspishly, "Of course not; You obviously had nothing to do with that little stunt yesterday with the taicho"

"O'course not"

"I had to spar with Ukitake-taicho because of you! Like it wasn't nerve racking enough being sized up like a piece of livestock, I actually had to fight one?"

He grinned broadly, psychotically some would probably say, all teeth like a happy shark and said in a slightly sing-song voice, "Don' worry about tha' little game o' tag yesterday Kagome-chan; 'Shiro-kun was quite taken with ya, all the taicho were"

She spluttered, wondering privately if anyone actually called Ukitake 'Shiro-kun' to his face, but also felt an annoying trickle of hopefulness at his statement. Gin never lied to her, or rather he'd never given any indication of lying to her before. Withhold information? Yes. Tease her? Frequently.

Of her friends and family that had met Gin, none- except for perhaps her father- even liked him and she knew there was only so much she could do about it when even Gin wasn't bothering to try. He just wasn't the type to inspire trust and confidence in people around him.

Fear; sometimes.

Anxiety, nervousness, irritation; pretty reliably.

The occasional dose of self-induced stupidity; Of course.

But camaraderie and friendship; not so much.

And while she trusted Gin implicitly with her life and the lives of her family, she wasn't so sure about trusting her sanity with a man who was more fox-like than her own zanpakuto spirit.

She shook her head, reached out and took her cup back up with an exasperated sigh, "What am I going to do with you?"

/

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><p>Owarimashita!<p>

A/N: So ends chapter 2! Not alot of action unfortunately, hopefully no one's too turned off too much by that. Next chapter is the living world training exercise so I promise a bit of bleeding XD. At any rate, we did learn a few things, got a feel for Kagome's life as a student, met Kogitsune and got to know him a bit, learned about why Kagome and Gin are so chummy chummy.

I feel a need to justify their interactions a bit. Alot of people find Gin super creepy, which makes sense seeing as that was Kubo's attention according to comments on his profile. But I think after saving her life, Kagome would have zero reason to be creeped out. She barely even blinks at people like Jinenji and when you think about it all of her friends from the "Inu-tachi" have either stolen from her, kidnapped her, or tried to kill her at some point or another.

Also I want to let my readers know, this WON'T be a Gin/Kag pairing. Having said that, Gin will be an integral part of the plot ;)

Moving on, we also got to meet the 'Otou-san' mentioned in the last chapter, which I'm not sure anybody noticed.

Not much for new vocab.

The tokkuri and sakazuki I mentioned are the large slightly round-bottomed sake bottles and the wide flat sake cups respectively, commonly seen in some anime. Google them for an image if you want a better idea.\

Also chichue, which is a contraction of chichi-ue. ue is a suffix literally meaning above. It is an extremely respectful honourific not commonly used anymore, save for when used with chichi and haha. Each means 'father' and 'mother' respectively and are neutral but still polite words typically used when referring to one's one parents when talking to someone outside the family.

I think everything else was covered in chapter 1.

CrowFeathers out!


	3. Chapter 3

/

Ha-ha! Chapter 3 is out! My exams are finished and I immediately started working on the ending to this sucker. It's kind of shorter than what I wanted but it's a good spot to end at ;D

Hope you guys like it!

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><p>Time in the living world was opposite what it was in Soul Society. Day in the living world; night in the Soul Society. Winter in Soul Society; summer in the living world. So on and so forth.<p>

This was among the first facts taught about the relationship between the two worlds when one went to the Soul Academy. There were reasons of course, but not the type of reasons that were typically know or taught to academy students, and were probably so technical they fell under the realm of the Science and Research Department or whatever it was that they were called. At any rate, knowing this little temporal quirk didn't help the fact that it was the middle of the night in human world when it was still high noon in Soul Society.

In fact, it made keeping track of the students in her sector all the more tedious.

Other than that minor sensory impairment, things were actually going quite smoothly. The living world location, a large and mostly abandoned industrial park filled with empty warehouses had been the favored location for the training exercises for only the past decade or so. A similar location had been used before that but after it had started to be re-developed they had found a new spot elsewhere. Being so bare of living souls such locations generally didn't attract Hollows and it had thus been cleared easily. The necessary Hollow simulating equipment and barrier had also been set up without a hitch and they'd been able to start the exercise early as a result.

The goal was to get ten simulated Hollows or to run out the three hour clock, whichever came first. Since the Hollows were few and far between, hidden in dark back alleys and corners, the clock usually ran out before anyone got to ten, but it was fun to see little competitions break out between the teams.

Kagome herself had done this exercise in the first few months of her first year, and found it mildly amusing to have returned in her second not as a trainee but as an overseer. She'd lucked out and gotten teamed up with Hana, who was spending her time examining the distant barrier interestedly. Her other teammate, a shy male youth by the name of Rikichi she wasn't very familiar with from any of her classes but to be honest he had such a weak constitution that she could've tripped over him and might not have noticed. He seemed very nice though and Hana had greeted him right away by name so she seemed to know him at the very least.

In addition to the sixth year students overseeing the exercise there were a number of unseated officers and one seated officer present for safety's sake. This had apparently become customary after a freak accident a couple decades ago in which several students had been killed when real Hollows had broken through the barrier and attacked just as the simulation was ending. She wasn't going to complain about them; she'd rather be looking at them than for them, even if nothing was likely to happen.

Although she'd _really_ have appreciated it if the seated officer had decided to go with some other group when each of the sixth year teams had split up to guard their respective sectors. He was quiet enough she supposed. The only words that had come out of his mouth had been over an hour ago when he'd introduced himself as the newly minted sixth seat of squad eleven, Abarai Renji. But since then he'd spent his time standing just away from their group, glowering spectacularly at the world around him as if being saddled with babysitting academy students was the bane of his existence.

Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye she noted that he actually might not even have been glaring, but his long brilliantly red hair and jagged black tattoos applied an inherent seriousness to his expression. She'd spent enough time around people like InuYasha to not particularly be fazed by him, real scowl or not.

A quick glance at the moon indicated it had been about fifteen minutes since her last check in with the other groups. "North sector, nothing to report" she called into her neck microphone, smirking when Rikichi and Hana jerked a little at her sudden intrusion on the relative silence.

"West is pretty quiet too"

"Same for east, not even a student"

There was a crackle of laughter through the earpiece before "That's because they're all here in the south end blowing things up"

"Pfft, no wonder it's so quiet around here, lucky you"

"Some real klutzes in the freshman this year; A girl that was in a group here half an hour nearly brained herself when she tripped over her own hakama"

"At least you've gotten to watch someone. Last group through here was just chasing a Hollow, couldn't pin it down"

She listened to the wishful banter over the speaker, the east and west groups complaining about nothing to do, before someone, the guy from the south group by the sound of it, laughed softly. "Hey Higurashi" he barked teasingly, "That kid of yours is pretty good with Kido" She snickered softly and replied, "Oh so its Nobooru-kun who's blowing things up huh? He's pretty good at it" "I'll say; some of the sixth years can't even pull off Shakkaho with that much bite" "Shakkaho again?" she muttered. She felt a great swell of exasperated affection for Nobooru.

The com fell silent as the individual groups went back to their respective tasks.

With a soft sigh, Kagome draped herself over the railing that guarded the edge of their rooftop corner. The industrial park was very quiet, no animals or people nearby to make noise, and only the distant explosions and shouts of students doing their exercise broke the silence. Kogitsune was bored, and she knew it in the way her bells rang softly regardless of how little her shifting was; They were always quite silent when she was going about her day, even when the motion of her back as she walked should've set them off. But when he became bored they would become very obvious.

She reached her hand back up and over her shoulder to touch the silk covered metal of Kogitsune's hilt. It was a gentle motion which had him stretching luxuriously in her soul but she felt a little pang of desire to go and destroy a few simulated Hollows herself. She had no love for fighting, never had in the Sengoku era, and even now years later as a Soul Reaper still had no taste for blood; But sitting idly waiting for nothing was even worse for someone like her who'd spent so much time travelling.

The simulated Hollows would be about as challenging as a wet paper bag to Kogitsune who'd grown by leaps and bounds from where she'd been a year ago when she'd done the exercise herself, but it at least would've broken the monotony of just standing there watching.

Kagome let her hand fall away and walked across the roof to the other side of the building. In the distance was the barrier used to secure the training area, rippling in the night sky like a heat mirage. It was interesting to watch; so different from her glittering pink shields and angry crackling Bakudo.

The supressed spiritual pressure and soft footsteps that followed her after a moment of silence didn't go unnoticed but she was mildly preoccupied as Takashi went darting by in the street below with a group of the sixth years which she recognized by behaviour alone as nobles. She'd been wondering where he'd gone and disappeared to when she hadn't heard him in charge of any of the stationary watches over the radio; He'd been assigned the moving watch apparently. Perhaps it was sensei's effort to keep them mostly separated from each other after their last dramatic, and bloody, spat. He paused long enough to shoot her an acid-filled stare which convinced her that Onabara-sensei had told him what she'd accomplished the night before, before continuing on his way.

She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at his retreating back, and settled with twitching her lips into a half concealed smile when Kogitsune sent her the brief but deeply amusing image of him running around with his hair on fire.

"Friend of yours?" She turned to see Abarai standing beside her, having watched the exchange with mild interest, he was leaned against the railing beside her. She scoffed, "Takashi is the honourable grandson of a Seireitei noble who doesn't like 'Rukon district street rats' like me being his equal in _anything_" she explained casually, watching as said person disappeared with his group around a corner. The red headed man looked mildly surprised and seemed to size her up for a few moments before muttering, almost as though to himself, "Never would've pegged you as a someone from the Rukon"

She held up her hands, balanced on the edge between aggravation and amusement, "Why do I always get that?" He seemed to find this a bit funny; a slight raising of his eyebrows and quirk of his lips that might've been imperceptible to anyone else.

She'd had a lot of practice hanging around Gin.

"You're a lot more polite than most for starters" he explained, scratching at his cheek in what she thought was a nervous gesture, "What district are you from anyway?"

"I'm from the outer North Rukon district. On the border of the Zaraki district" He was clearly shocked by this, most people were when they found out she was from that decrepit lawless area, but he took it a lot better than most people did when they found this out. She added quickly, "I moved out pretty quick though, took my little brother with me. Ended up living in District 8 before coming to the academy" He seemed to ponder her words for a few moments, then he gave a small chuckle, which had her smiling and prompting, "What's so funny?" He didn't answer right away, seemingly thinking it over, than explained, "It's just kind of ironic… you're from the same district as my Captain and you're probably the complete opposite of him"

This was intriguing, she hadn't really heard of any of the Gotei 13 Captain being from the Rukon district but then again she'd only read up on a handful of them. The older ones were in some of the history books and then there were those that she'd met or seen, but that left most of the Captains completely unknown to her. However she'd read that the Squad 11 Captain had always historically been the strongest swordsman in all the Gotei 13 so it didn't come as a terrible surprise to her to discover that the current Captain would be from that area.

"That is kind of interesting" she muttered aloud, putting her chin in her hand and looking off towards the barrier. A thought occurred to her and she snapped her fingers in response catching Abarai's attention, "I don't think I ever introduced myself" she explained at his questioning look. She bowed respectfully and said, "I'm Higurashi Kagome. It's a pleasure to meet you Abarai-sempai" He held up his hand to stop her there, "Just Renji's fine, I'm not really one for titles"

She smiled, "Then I'm just Kagome"

She might've continued to get to know him but as she opened her mouth to speak his eyes flicked to look at something over her shoulder in surprise. She turned, fully expecting a group of students to be battling a Hollow nearby, but felt her own surprise, and a sinking sensation of anxiety, at what she saw. The barrier, which had been gently rippling like a curtain caught in a breeze seemed to be shuddering as a few waves of untamed energy broke loose and arced over its surface like so many little bolts of lightning.

She raised a thin rosy shield on impulse when a few of the large streaks of free power soared in their direction but they faded rapidly as they separated from the surface of the barrier. "What was that?" Renji asked staring tensely at the barrier, even as the strange energy calmed and the barrier slid smoothly back into its former peaceful state.

"Did anybody else see that?" she asked into the radio around her throat, feeling Rikichi and Hana cross the roof to where she was.

"See what?"

"We did. Did a student hit the barrier or something?"

"I don't think there's enough power in any of them to do that"

"Oi! Barrier squad! You guys taking a nap or what?"

"We're doing exactly what we're supposed to, stupid! Whatever it was the equipment sources it in the North area. Did you see anything weird Higurashi-san?"

"Other than the barrier trying to electrocute us? Nothing. There weren't any stray Kido that hit it, at least from where I could see" She tilted her head back to glance over her shoulder at Rikichi and Hana, "You guys sense anything just now?"

Both shook their heads with Hana adding, "Just when the barrier flared, nothing before"

Renji's movement in the corner of her eye caused her to turn back to him as he clicked the dial on his own radio, "All squads hold their positions. It's probably just a glitch in the equipment but we'll do a perimeter sweep to be sure. In the meantime, everyone keep an eye out for any other problems with the barrier"

There was a blurred chorus of affirmatives from over the radio before it went quiet again, and Renji turned to them expectantly. "Well looks like we're going for a walk" he said. Rikichi looked pensive at this statement and asked, not without a nervous little lilt to his voice, "Shouldn't the unseated officers be the ones to go with you?"

"It's probably nothing" Hana interjected, "I've heard that the Squad 12 technology they use for this exercise has always been a bit glitchy. Besides, it'll be good practice" Rikichi blushed under the taller girl's gaze, something which Kagome was _definitely_ going to be mentioning to Hana later, but seemed to inflate himself a little with her confidence.

She shot a knowing look to Renji who had watched the exchange amusedly. He shook his head at her antics, and began to wander off towards the edge, jumping over the railing and landing in the street below as they wandered towards the general direction of the barrier.

When they got there they simply observed the barrier up close and noted that it seemed to be perfectly fine now. There were a few curious scorches around the bottom in a few spots that looked like they may've been caused by the loose energy but besides that there was nothing of particular interest going on.

"Well whatever it was, looks like it didn't leave any permanent damage" Hana mused aloud, scuffing her zori across the scorch marks and showing the otherwise unblemished pavement beneath. Renji seemed quiet though, Kagome thought inwardly, noting the tense line of his shoulders as he glared at the scorches and the barrier.

He reminded her of InuYasha…

She looked away.

And noted that the pavement a dozen feet farther down seemed… wet. It was a curious thing when the rest had been apparently burned by the energy of the barrier, and the air was too dry for it to have rained recently. She took a few steps towards it and felt her gut knot itself into an anxious ball at Kogitsune's long low rumble. She crouched next to the liquid and heard the others start to walk towards her when they noticed her attention had turned.

Carefully she dragged her two fingers across the surface of it and found it wasn't water but rather a thick viscous fluid. Some sort of slime, as if someone had taken a bucket of saliva and thrown it all over the ground. It had a heavy offensive aroma, not quite like something rotting. It reminded her of when she'd still been living and had forgotten about clothes left in the washing machine too long after being finished, until they'd soured and had to be washed again.

She wiped her hands off on her handkerchief quickly.

"What is that?" Rikichi asked, leaning over it.

"Goop" she said, matter-of-factly. Then added as an afterthought, "Smelly goop"

Hana had stepped over the narrow pool and seemed to be examining how it slid right through the barrier. Renji however was scanning the ground, seeing how the slimy trail went deeper into the practice area.

"It looks like something went out through the barrier" she said, then sent a serious glance to Renji who was already looking at her, 'Or in' went unsaid between them. "Maybe one of the fake Hollows accidentally walked into it" Rikichi suggested, blissfully ignorant of the increasingly tense atmosphere building between around him.

She lifted her hand to her communicator to speak, then nearly smacked herself in the face trying to get her hand to Kogitsune's hilt at the sight of movement just farther down the road. Her blade was half drawn when Takashi's group flash stepped the short distance from the building alleys to where they were standing. She gave a sigh, inwardly berating her own jumpiness and nearly snarled at Takashi for not announcing himself but Renji beat her to it.

"I told all squads to hold their positions!" he barked, glowering at them. Takashi inclined his head in what may've looked like a respectful action if his eyes hadn't been gleaming with irritation. She knew he was probably fuming at have to answer to some eleventh squad officer. "Sorry Sempai. We heard that the anomaly was here and thought you might require assistance" he said, though not without a hint of coldness to his voice. Renji looked exasperated and closed his eyes.

She couldn't smother her smile upon recognizing it as the expression of someone praying for patience.

"Well as long as you're here you might as well come along" he said, walking along the edge of the trail. "Sir" Takashi affirmed, and quickly he fell in step beside her and behind Renji. It wasn't like they went far; the slimy trail ended after only a hundred yards. It had curved off the empty street and into one of the warehouses whereupon the trail ended in a faint scorch mark, this time a Kido blast judging by the faint spiritual pressure still hovering in the air around it. If it was a Hollow that had forced its way through the barrier it looked like it had been mistaken for one of the simulations and dealt with accordingly by a passing group of students.

"Well whatever it was, it's gone now" said the student from Takeshi's group. It took her a moment to recognize him in the poor light but she realized he was one of the sixth years from she and Takeshi's Hakuda class, she knew him by last name only but Takeshi and he seemed to be pretty good friends as they were more often than not eating or training together. He was a lesser noble who practically served Takashi but he was pretty respectful with everyone so she didn't mind him too much. He was pretty normal looking, high cheekbones and a thin face which spoke to his breeding but his short hair was a plain black and he had dark brown eyes.

"Shitagawa-san" she said, catching his attention, "You were through here earlier weren't you? Did any of you see anything strange then?" He shook his head, and looked around, "No, not even this slime trail was here" Renji was frowning, looking at the trail's end and looked to be wondering just what the hell was going on. Then Shitagawa added, as though as an afterthought, "Oda-kun and Yamashita-chan might've seen something though"

Seeing the confused glance he was getting from Abarai he explained, "We split up just after that weird thing with the barrier happened. Oda-kun and Yamashita-chan went onto the other side of the warehouses over here while we searched the near side. Maybe they were the ones who used the Kido here"

"And they haven't reported in since?" Renji snarled. He looked as though he might very like to smack the other man. Shitagawa shrank under his glare, and squeaked, "They said they'd check the buildings closest to the barrier and then catch up"

"I'm calling them" Renji snapped, lifting his hand to the mic at his neck. "No need" someone, male, said from behind and Kagome just about leapt out of her skin at the suddenness with which they'd appeared. They turned to just outside the doorway where a male student in his mid-teens stood, medium length light brown hair and grey eyes, he was looking at the ground where he'd stepped in the slime and seemed to be trying to keep his balance on the slippery substance.

Kagome wasn't really paying attention to this. She was more concerned by how easily she was getting snuck up on. Her ability to sense spiritual pressure so acutely had always been one of her greatest abilities, even before her Bakudo or Shikai had been accomplished. Normally she could always tell where she was and who she was with just with her spiritual senses. Onabara-sensei had once joked with another teacher that she could probably navigate all of Soul Society blindfolded her senses were so precise.

…So how in the hell had Takashi, Shitagawa, and now Oda all managed to sneak up on her so easily?

"Oda-kun?" Shitagawa asked, looking him up and down as though for injury, "Where Yamashita-chan?" Oda paused in a way that suggested surprise but he didn't lift his head so she couldn't see his expression. "You mean she hasn't found you already?"

"What happened?" Renji asked snappishly, coming to stand in front of the group and all the more visible for being the only one garbed in black in their cluster of white, red and blue. "Well we were checking out the other side of these warehouses when we spotted this Hollow coming down the alley over here. It was smaller and kind of acting weird for a simulation so we both fired a Kido, but I guess we were too close to each other or something when we casted the spells because they combined when they hit it; there was this really bright flash and lots of smoke. I lost track of her when it happened… I figured she'd just go find you guys. But I guess maybe when you weren't at the rooftop she came looking like I did"

Renji gave a great sigh and looked back at the black smear on the ground. "Well… if it was a Hollow it's dead now. I'll just call her over the com" he said, reaching for his throat. Oda interrupted him quickly, "Wait! If the other students hear you telling just her to report in won't they think she's missing? Her com is probably broken if she hasn't called in yet, and the students might panic if she doesn't reply right away" Renji paused, seeing his point, "That's true. Let's split up and find her then, still…

He trailed off, looked at the scorch mark on the ground then back towards the barrier. "I don't like this. That Hollow got in somehow right? The barrier might not be working like its supposed to…" he said slowly, scratching his head, then looked back to all of them, "All right. I'm officially cancelling this exercise. If that one got in who's to say other's didn't too, or can't get in now? There was only about half an hour of time left anyway"

"What about Yamashita?" Shitagawa asked. "I'll go look for her" Renji replied easily, then lifting his hand up to the mic around his neck, spoke to the unseated officers and sixth's years, "This is Abarai Renji, 6th seat. Due to the possible instability of the barrier this training exercise is now over. Please gather the students at the starting area immediately" He took his hand away as the confirmations were parroted back and turned back to them, "In the mean time I want all of you to go help herd the students. Make sure nobody panics"

He flash stepped away and she turned to the group. Takashi immediately set his nose in the air, "My group will go back up Abarai, _you_ can babysit Higurashi" She rolled her eyes, not caring at this point where he was. She wanted to find Nobooru first and foremost, and get him out the training ground before another real Hollow showed up.

Oda stuck his hand up immediately and said, "I'm going to go with Kagome-chan's group" Takashi looked at him weird, so did she for that matter. Takashi she suspected was just annoyed that his 'friend' a fellow noble, would want to go with her. She was more preoccupied but Oda's sudden decision to refer to her on a first name basis; She wasn't offended or anything, she preferred going by her first name anyway, but Oda was typically very ignorant of her. If she and Takashi weren't so well known she might have wondered how he knew her name at all. Still…

"That's fine. Let's move quick, I want to make sure my Otouto isn't making a fuss over the exercise being cut short" She flashed stepped to the nearby rooftop and began to run south across them. She cast out her senses as she moved in the hopes of locating any wayward students.

But casting out her senses, she felt almost… lightheaded. All the spiritual pressure in the air, even that of the barrier, seemed muffled and impossibly weak. It was like she was trying to hear something with pillows over her ears. It was disorienting in a way that she _not_ appreciate.

She passed a few groups, most of which were already accompanied by older students, guiding them back to the starting area. One she had to stop for and explain that the barrier had acted funny and they were going back to Soul Society just in case. Their protest wasn't unexpected but no less irritating, and she sent them off with Hana just in case they were still feeling defiant.

With them being hurried on their way, she took Rikichi and Oda and continued farther towards the south end of the exercise ground.

She paused on the corner of a rooftop when the cloudiness affecting her spiritual senses began to intensify. Trying to feel out spiritual pressure was actually starting to give her a headache, and the quietness of the training ground grated on her nerves. Kogitsune was growling in the back of her mind and Rikichi's spiritual pressure was alive with nervous energy just behind her. Oda seemed unnaturally calm about the situation as he jumped the gap in front of her and paused on the lip of the building in front of her.

She wished she felt as calm. Kagome hadn't felt this sort of anxiety since she'd been in the Sengoku Jidai, and ignoring the knots her gut was working itself into had never been a good idea, even then. The haze over her senses wasn't helping, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was because of the flare-up from the barrier earlier.

"Rikichi-kun, Oda-kun" she said, "Do either of you sense anything?" She had felt Rikichi jump behind her at her words, and when he answered there was a curious little lilt to his voice, "N-no. I can't really sense anything actually" Oda seemed to look around and after a moment, "I don't sense anything either"

Her anxiety was intensifying by the minute, and she reached up to finger the com around her neck. She half wanted to call up Renji and ask him if he'd found Yamashita, heck she'd even talk to Takashi if she had to. But just the few sixth's years she'd come across were already nervous, not quite buying the whole 'unstable barrier' story, and if she asked Renji anything directly over the radio than there would probably be a kerfuffle.

Her train of thought was broken by a sharp crackling sound from nearby.

"What was that?" Rikichi exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his skin. "It came from over there" Oda replied immediately and he pointed to a gap in the buildings just a few blocks away. It was within her range of senses, but she couldn't really feel anything despite the flare of lights that indicated the use of Kido.

She lunged forward, flash stepping the short distance across the last few rooftops and landing in the broad alley below. There was a Hollow, but even with her senses as muddled as they were she could tell it was one of the simulations. It was as good a place to dump her stress as any, and it was split quickly in half by Kogitsune's blade.

"Oi!"

She turned to her right and saw a girl of maybe only ten standing there with a furious glare on her face. Her nameless sword was drawn and held above her head in the stance of someone who'd just been about to make a cut.

"What was _my_ Hollow! You can't just come in here and jack my kill!" she howled, lowering her sword. Her dark red hair clashed spectacularly with the brilliant crimson of her uniform and her green eyes practically gleamed with her anger.

"Onee-chan?" a voice asked from the side. They both turned to it, and Kagome gave a soft sigh at the sight of her adopted brother. "Nobooru-kun" she acknowledged, taking in his startled expression and the confusion from the boy next to him whom she recognized as one of his friends.

"She's _your_ sister?" the young girl snapped, crossing her arms and stomping over to him. Nobooru looked a little flushed at her scrutiny but ducked quickly away and strode over to her.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, looking up at her.

"You probably couldn't see from here but there was an incident with the barrier" Rikichi said from behind her. Kagome put her hand on Nobooru's shoulder, turning his attention back to her, "The seated officer in charge of this exercise is cutting it short" She ignored the indignant shout and subsequent protests from his teammate, feeling him tense up under her palm.

Nobooru was a smart kid, and he'd apparently been around her long enough to realize when she wasn't telling the truth. He looked up at her and turned slightly so that his comrades wouldn't see his face; not that they would, seeing as they were busily assaulting Oda and Rikichi.

"What's going on?" he murmured softly. She shook her head, "Not here. I want you to take your friends and go back to the starting area okay?" His expression turned nervous, but he nodded quietly and carefully slid his nameless blade back into its sheath. The girl was howling at Rikichi, apparently having picked him out as the weakest –he was cowering under her snarls like a small child- and it took Kagome dropping her hand onto her head to catch her attention again. "Enough of that, go back to the starting area" she said, levelling the girl with a glare and continuing when she opened her mouth to protest, "That's an order"

It was kind of cute to watch the girl puff up like an angry bird when she pulled rank, but she obeyed, turning and storming past towards the central meeting area. Nobooru and his friend chased after her, with the former throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder at her as he went. "Rikichi?" Oda asked, and she turned to glance at the two over her shoulder. "Maybe you should go with them just to make sure they get there?" the young noble suggested.

"O-oh! You-.. You think so?" he asked, glancing rapidly between them. After a moment, she nodded in agreement, preferring that her inexperienced brother had an extra set of eyes on him. Rikichi jerked funnily then ran after them as they turned a corner.

"We'd better check the rest of this sector" Oda said, turning and striding deeper into the alleys. She gave a soft 'hmm' of agreement and trailed after him. She almost wanted to suggest them taking to the rooftops but Oda seemed to be pretty determined to go wherever it was he was going. "I didn't want to startle Rikichi-kun, but I thought I sensed something over here when you were talking to those students" he said suddenly, and her heartbeat jumped nervously at the thought of having missed something. She tried to spread her senses again but only felt disoriented at the confusing haze of vague spiritual pressure that was draped over her surroundings.

"What did it feel like?" she asked, immediately on alert and fingers twitching with the impulse to draw her sword. "I'm not sure, I barely caught it as it was" he replied casually, not walking so much as gliding down a dark gap between the buildings. She trailed closely behind him, stopping when he slowed to carefully examine his surroundings, his face showing that innate focus apparent when someone of their level tried to use their spiritual senses to take in their surroundings. She cautiously tried to do the same, calming mind and raising her spiritual but barely got anywhere before Oda jerked as though surprised and drew his sword.

"Over there!" he hissed, and she just about jumped out of her skin when he did. Before she could think to even ask what he saw he was darting towards the gap in the wall of one of the warehouses where the door had long rusted and decayed away until it lay in rotting pieces upon the ground. He gave a few sharp hand signals, indicating he'd seen a Hollow, about twenty feet in, and for her to enter first. She nodded, laying her hand upon her hilt and lunging forward into the warehouse.

She wasn't sure what the building had been when it was in use, but the floor had become flooded by stagnant water that felt thick, cold, and slimy even through her tabi. It had been dead still but as she stepped into the water the surface broke into ripples, which caused faint blue-green streaks of light to go dancing across the walls, reflections of moonlight streaming down through the few holes in the roof. It sent similar eerie markings coursing up and down Kogitsune's drawn blade, bathing it in gleaming fox fire in the half light.

But there was nothing there, nothing that had touched the water at least judging by how calm it had been before her first step into it. She ignored Oda stepping in closely behind her as she meticulously chose her steps; careful not to make any noise and leery of accidentally stepping into deeper water invisible in the darkened warehouse.

Kogitsune, without warning, hissed in her mind like an angry cat and she paused nervously, glancing up at the worn rusted metal walkways and balconies above her head. Still nothing.

"Oda?" she whispered softly, and it still felt too loud in the silence of the soggy room, "Are you sure you saw it come in here?"

Silence…

She turned her head to glance sharply over her shoulder and felt a sinking anxiety to find absolutely nothing.

'Oh, c'mon…'

The water behind her was moving gently, ripples from when she'd walked, but no indicator to suggest she'd ever been followed. She turned fully, and every second she was left watching the door and not seeing Oda come around the corner caused her more and more panic.

Screw ruffling feathers, she was done playing this game.

Kagome reached up to press the button on her neck radio….

And paused when a soft echoey noise, humming by the sounds of it, reverberated around the room.

She twisted, looking for the source, but in the open space it seemed to echo from every direction. "Who's there?" she shouted; Quiet be damned.

There was a soft noise, like a smothered laugh, before the humming resumed, louder this time.

Her guts knotted into tangles when she recognized the three low notes lilting through the air, and Kogitsune's angered snarl in her mind nearly smothered out the first few words of the song that followed;

"_Kagome, Kagome…_ _a bird in a cage…_

_When, when will you come out…_

_In the evening of dawn…_

_Crane and turtle slipped…"_

Kagome jolted as the last sentences rolled out into the air and twisted sharply, Kogitsune raised… only to curse as she found nothing in front of her but felt something slide in behind her as she moved.

"_**Who is behind you now**__?"_

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><p>Dun dun dunh ! I'm so mean :D<p>

Hopefully you all liked this chapter; Not sure if I'm any good at aspiring suspense or anxiety but I tried my best.

Not sure when I'll have my next chapter up. My plot bunnies are so fickle and I'm itching to write a little IYXYJ crossover for kicks, but having chapter 3 and being stranded at work inspires chapter production so I might be able to crank out 4 right away.

At any rate, EXAMS ARE OVER! *dances*

CrowFeathers out!


	4. Chapter 4

IT'S FINISHED! OMGROFL!

*starts crying*

This was the chapter from _**HELL**_.

With the exception of the last 3500 words or so, which I went on a spree and wrote during my six hour shift at work yesterday, I'd say about 80% of this chapter was written in a perpetual state of _severe_ Writer's Block. I didn't even look at this thing for over a week it was so bad. Worst was when I'd write a hundred words then have to stop because of **one** sentence that left me uninspired.

What also sucked about it is my muse is out on the West Coast right now for work, and she doesn't even get enough of a signal for Skype! I am MUSE-LESS! D:

I was so determined to get this finished I actually stayed at work after clocking out so I could make sure I got my ideas down on the page; I would've lost my train of thought if I had driven home first. Then I was up until 3 in the morning reviewing and proof-reading it!

Moving on, I've upped the rating on this fic due in part to the gore in this chapter. Additionally, per FF's suggestions, I've enabled anonymous reviewing.

Onwards!

_**REPOST**_

Went back and realized that I had messed up Yamashita and Shitagawa in several sections, kept using them interchangeably. Also spelling error fest. I actually re-read some sections and was like 'Was I drunk when I wrote this?' Hopefully I got them all now but if you STILL find them then yell at me in a review k?

* * *

><p>Renji decided that he didn't like the Living World.<p>

Actually he'd decided that particular fact some forty years ago when his own living world training exercise had gone to hell, courtesy of several very blood-thirsty Hollows. He remembered it in the same way he remembered Aizen and his Lieutenant Ichimaru showing up out of nowhere and saving the day.

In fact, each and every mission that he'd ever gotten that involved going to the Living World had been a fiasco.

The worst, after the one during his school years, had been the last mission he'd received under Aizen; he'd been attacked by a Hollow just as he was about to open the Senkaimon. The attack had put him in the Fourth for a week and out of active duty for another two.

He still wondered if it had been what encouraged Aizen to transfer him to the Eleventh. Not that Renji had ever regretted it, Squad Eleven didn't have the most stellar of reputations but he'd jumped over a dozen ranks over the course of the past two decades.

This exercise however, while not nearly as horrific as his own, was turning out to be just as much of a fiasco. Thinking of the Hollow that may or may not have appeared and been subsequently defeated made him wonder if he was just being a bit paranoid but he didn't like how the thing had shown up out of nowhere and then just as easily been killed. He also didn't like that this girl had vanished after what was supposed to have been a successful attack.

Shitagawa and the other student - Takashi, Kagome had called him- had gone with him but they were next to useless except to stare at his back as he led them across the rooftops of the nearby warehouses trying to figure out which direction this Yamashita girl had gone.

Initially he'd been having a lot of trouble trying to feel her out; it was as if the spiritual power in the air was muffled, but the presence, whatever it was, was gradually dissipating. Enough so that he was able to call the group to a halt when he finally picked up her residual spiritual pressure.

Shitagawa was looking around his surroundings bemusedly, then glanced at Takashi for confirmation but he just shrugged and didn't seem particularly fazed.

"This is the spot where we split up, Oda-kun and Yamashita-chan went that way", Shitagawa explained, pointing down one of the streets that ran in front of a long row of warehouses.

"C'mon then, she might've doubled back the way she came" Renji muttered, walking off towards where he had pointed, carefully feeling out for any Spiritual Pressure. There was some residual power that suggested she had been by only recently but nothing substantial enough to suggest she was still around. He wanted to curse but the noble brat was already giving him the stink-eye; Now he understood what Kagome had been talking about.

He walked quickly but deliberately, scanning to either side of the street to glance down dark alleys in the hopes of finding an explanation for the girl's absence. But there was nothing, nothing except the fading Spiritual Pressure hanging in the air.

Takashi shifted suddenly beside him, then split away and walked across the street to the other side. "What are you doing?"Renji asked. Takashi didn't respond, only continued walking until he came to edge of an alley where he stopped, staring at a spot on the ground at his feet.

Renji narrowed his eyes and followed.

What Takashi found made his gut curl into knots. It was another pool, thick and slimy, and now that he was close he could detect its pungent smell in the air. "Isn't this that stuff from before...?" Shitagawa muttered, as though to himself.

Takashi gave a soft noise of agreement, turning away and covering his nose with his sleeve as though disgusted.

Renji prodded at the slime with the edge of his sandal, noting how much thicker and syrupy it was on this spot, as though fresher. While the two muttered in disgust Renji spread his senses and realized he could feel a lot of residual spiritual pressure nearby.

He quickly scanned the alley and nearby buildings noting the direction the trail went. Renji stood and carefully walked along the edge of the slime to the dark entrance of one of the rotting warehouses. There was a dank, sour scent in the air and it was dark, damp; he couldn't see what was _what_ in the half-light of the room. The floor was wet with a few puddles, and he could hear something dripping farther back in the dark.

"Yamashita-chan?" Shitagawa called quietly, nervously feeling out with his meager spiritual pressure for her.

There was no answer.

Renji had recently been working on a tweaked Shakkaho to use as a light and this seemed as good a situation as any to use it; entirely fed up with not being able to see anything, he lifted his hand and carefully summoned the modified spell.

Having used it though, he almost wished he had refrained.

Lit by the weak red light, he'd later suspect the scene looked a lot more gruesome than it may've otherwise been, but it didn't reduce his own sense of horror any.

The body strung up from the ceiling was -or had been- a male student judging by the shredded tatters of the blue uniform. Even in the faint red light it was obvious that he'd been almost ripped apart; The deep slash down his front seemed to be the source of the steady drip of blood, pooling in a puddle beneath him, but judging by the blood stains on the uniform the rest of him had been thoroughly mauled. Perhaps even more disturbing were the faint silvery white threads, wrapped around half his body and running up to a rusted metal beam above, holding him up; He wasn't close enough to be sure, but from where he was he couldn't help but be reminded of insect silk.

...His face had been torn off...

The sound of a scuffle behind him distracted him and he turned swiftly to glance back at the two younger men. Shitagawa appeared to have stumbled backwards into Takashi, who simply stood staring in horror, in his haste to get back out; He was now busily vomiting just around the corner.

Renji turned back and lifted the light higher. The weak beams fell on a second form farther back in the dark. This was a girl with long black-brown hair but her face was turned away from him. She seemed largely untouched but he didn't need to ascertain whether she was alive or not; there was a long thin dark stain running diagonally up her back where she'd been nearly split by one neat stroke...

...The work of a Zanpakuto.

"Takashi?" Renji called, and he felt the young noble shuffle -stumble probably- in surprise. "S-Sir..." he rasped, shocked. "Is that girl there Yamashita?" he asked, turning and steadying the boy when he noticed his swaying. He didn't answer for a moment, only stared stunned, until finally Renji snapped his fingers in front of his face, startling him out of his stupor.

"Is. That Yamashita?" he repeated once he had his attention.

Slowly Takashi nodded, and having his answer he quickly turned the boy around and pushed him towards the doorway, "Go check on Shitagawa and don't go _anywhere"_ he emphasized.

As soon as Takashi was out of sight Renji lifted his hand to his communicator, "Arimaki! Come in!"

In the soft static that followed Renji thought he could **hear** his own blood run cold.

"Arimaki!" he barked.

Still no answer.

Renji cursed. Loudly.

The brand new seated officer he'd been assigned to help him oversee the exercise, Aramaki Makizou, might've been annoying - bemoaning having to babysit academy students since they'd received their orders- but even he wasn't stupid enough to not answer to his superior officer.

"All Squad Eleven Officers report in!"

Nothing.

Cursing his ever foul luck, Renji lifted his hand to the dial on his communicator and changed frequencies in one last ditch effort to contact someone.

"This is Sixth Seat Abarai Renji of Squad Eleven, overseeing an Academy Exercise in the Living World, declaring an Emergency! At least one Hollow appears to have entered the exercise area and is possibly still at large; Two confirmed casualties. Requesting immediate back-up!"

Static.

"Damnit!" Renji yelled.

He felt more than saw Shitagawa and Takashi lingering in the doorway, and turned to order them to go to the central meeting spot and start evacuating the students back into Soul Society, when something about the body hanging from the beam caught his eye.

He looked... familiar... Something in the long leanness of the limbs, the matted tangle of medium length hair still clinging weakly to the nape of the skull...

...Light brown hair...

His eyes went wide in realization.

Renji turned and bolted for the door so quickly that both students jumped back in alarm.

Turning, he made the leap upwards to the roof as one of the students squawked "What are you doing?"

He twisted and yelled over his shoulder "Follow me!"

He felt the students scramble up behind him as he took off across the rooftops, "Where are we going? Shouldn't we be going back to Soul Society as soon as possible? I mean- two students are dead!"

"The comms are down! I can't contact anyone, and we are _not_ splitting up until I can!"

"But- Then- Where are we going?"

"To find that group- Kagome's!"

"Wha- Why?"

"Because I said so!" he yelled, beyond frustrated.

Because he understood; They were in _huge _trouble.

* * *

><p>Looking back on the situation later, Kagome would say it was Kogitsune's doing; The flash-fire impulse to lunge gripped her limbs so tightly that it actually burned and she was certain she'd never reacted so quickly.<p>

The dodge forward was so fast she nearly shoved the end of her blade into the floor beneath the water but thankfully missed the worst of the murderous head-splitting swing from behind; She couldn't dodge it completely however, and gave a short yell -more anger than pain- as the offender sliced a shallow gash down the back of her neck and between her shoulder blades.

She twisted, raising her sword and gave a sharp diagonal swing... through nothing...

The space was empty but the water rippled on the spot where someone had been standing just a moment ago. She scanned upwards, looking at the weak rusted walkway above for the form of someone trying to move out of sight.

Her hand snapped to her neck-piece, "Renji, it's Kagome. You better get to the south sector quick"

She listened for his reply... and was decidedly startled to not receive one.

"Renji, can you hear me?"

The soft static of the radio was her only reply to cranking up the volume.

"Hana-chan? Rikichi-kun? Can you guys hear me?"

Silence.

Then soft laughter echoed about the room, and a cold, deep, voice, smooth and sly lilted out into the air, "Ohhhh poor little bird can't call her flock hmm?"

She did _not _appreciate being screwed with, and glanced quickly towards the doorway judging the distance.

"The little bird's not planning to fly away is she?"

It wasn't far, she'd flash stepped farther distances before and in worse conditions, but she couldn't see or sense where her attacker was hiding.

But she had an idea how she might be able to flush him out.

Glancing once more into the corners of the room she bolted for the door, making it to the entrance in one swift lunge. The hysterical laugh from behind her followed by the undeniable feeling of someone lurking behind her was her cue to act; She flash stepped out of the way of the stab from behind and came at her attacker from an angle behind him.

She was surprised when the supposed Hollow she was attacking crossed Zanpakuto with her instead of claws.

"You're fast; He said you would be", her attacker replied, and she realized she _knew_ the voice.

She looked up.

"O-Oda-kun?"

She smile that almost split his whole face was manic and entirely too sinister.

"I'm afraid that Oda-kun has been has been dead for quite some time Kagome-chan" he replied, and she felt her gut twist as it started out with Oda's normal voice and dissolved into the menacing tone that had been echoing about the warehouse moments ago.

"The comms..." she trailed off.

"Dealt with" he said smugly.

Kagome narrowed her eyes, no wonder she couldn't get a hold of anyone. Her only consolation was that everyone was going to notice pretty quickly when they couldn't report in with everyone else.

In the meantime, she had to deal with the Oda look alike.

She dropped her weight down on her sword and, in the same motion she'd performed only a few days before when sparring with Ukitake, lifted her hand and pointed at him with one finger, reiatsu gathered to trap him in the spell-

-and stumbled backwards when he practically threw her off of him. She gave a short pained yell as she slammed into the beam she'd been using as cover just moments ago.

She had to ignore the agony from her injury being impacted though, because the not-Oda laughed hysterically and lunged at her immediately. She ducked out of the way, wincing at the sharp shriek of metal on metal as his diagonal swipe skidded upwards along the beam.

Kagome was starting to think that with his speed she wasn't going to be able to outmaneuver him, doubly so when she flash stepped behind him sword poised to strike and he twisted, quick as a viper, and she was left on the defensive instead.

She felt the impact of his counterswing all the way up to her shoulders, but didn't have time to dwell on it; The force of his attack very nearly disarmed her and she felt Kogitsune snapping his fangs in her mind, in pain or rage -possibly both- she couldn't tell. She might've tried releasing her Shikai but he was pressing her so fast that she didn't think she'd have the chance to try.

It might not have been the best time to use it anyway; Kogitsune didn't seem to have a weapon form when he was in Shikai state.

She ducked abruptly and leapt away to avoid the decapitation swing aimed at her throat but found herself between two pillars and the wall; She couldn't swing her sword here, the space was too tight.

He was on her again right away -this time with a delighted laugh at having cornered her- and entirely fed up with being pinned down, she twisted and took her hand off the hilt of her blade long enough to sweep it through the air. The gleaming off-pink shield flashed as his sword hit and he screamed as though in pain, but she was already turning, aiming at the ceiling with a hastily conjured Hado - she _**prayed**_ it didn't blow up in her face.

"Hado 4; Byakurai!"

It worked.

Weak, and somewhat off course, but still better than any of her previous attempts. It blasted a good sized hole in the roof and she wasted no time flashing to the walkway then through her new exit.

The light of the moon seemed almost blinding compared to the dark of the warehouse but the openness of the rooftop was well worth it. She twisted as soon as she touched the ground, lifted her hand to point at the opening, hoped her timing was right and shouted, "Bakudo 61; Rikujokoro!"

The enraged Oda came screaming up through the hole just in time for the Kido to catch him around the middle and he came crashing back down to the rooftop howling in outrage.

The spell wasn't powerful enough, that much was certain judging by the way he was still able to flail about like a hooked fish, but it kept him still enough for her to lift her sword and start to move towards him.

Then she paused when a thought crossed her mind.

What if Oda wasn't really dead?

One of the six rods shattered into nothing.

This had to be a Hollow, possibly the supposed Hollow that had entered through the barrier earlier, and it had said that Oda was dead. But if he was dead and the Hollow's ruse was up why hadn't he given up the form?

Another rod broke and faded.

Maybe it was some sort of possession; She'd seen it done by demons enough times to think it couldn't be impossible for Hollows too. And a Hollow _would_ take immense sick satisfaction in turning a controlled Soul Reaper on his comrades. Or to have that pawn slaughtered by same said comrades.

Two rods cracked at the same time and broke into gleaming gold bits a moment later.

Her Mikoki hurt Hollows, but not normal souls.

Another broke and the last one flared brightly at the sudden strain on it.

She'd never tested on a Soul Reaper before but now was as good a time as any.

It shattered and Oda shrieked in fury as he rushed her.

She lifted her hand and dumped Mikoki into it. The blast turned night into _day_; It sent Oda flying backwards, nearly to the edge of the hole, where he lay still and smoking slightly.

For a moment she worried whether or not she may've killed him, then slowly he gave a few -somewhat hysterical- giggles.

"Well now..." he said slowly, propping his elbows beneath him and sitting up forward, hair falling forward into his face. "That was impressive... If I hadn't been wearing this skin I might've been in big trouble just now"

He tilted his head back to look at her and she saw that part of his face seemed to have been burned off. The area across his left eye had been opened up and she could see the long white curve of bone-like mask surrounding a glowing yellow eye beneath.

"The little bird has sharper claws than I thought... Guess I should be a little more serious" he said softly, as though contemplatively.

She tensed and jumped back as his whole body shuddered and seized. There was a sound like tearing fabric as his back hunched and swelled, then suddenly burst as something white and slimy slowly emerged. Kagome felt vaguely disgusted as the Hollow slid out of the skin like it was shucking a jacket. She was reminded of an insect coming out of a cocoon, starting out small then slowly swelling and stretching to it's full size until one had to wonder how it had even fit inside the form it had worn.

'Well... that rules out the possession scenario...'

It wasn't a terribly large Hollow, she'd seen and killed far larger, but it was long, almost the length of the roof if it were to stretch out. Initially she thought it resembled a silkworm with its grayish-white skin and multiple pairs of scythe-like front legs, but its long body was more snake-like, smooth and muscular.

And it was fast.

She knew this because it lunged at her with almost flash-step like speed. She dodged the head - and more importantly the gaping jaws- but didn't move out of the way of the tail in time; The force of the impact threw her clear off the roof, into the alley below and very nearly through the wall of a neighboring building.

The suddenness of the attack and the stop left her briefly stunned but the long howl from above convinced her to shake her head and stumble to her feet.

She could vaguely sense that the Hollow was above her somewhere but that infuriating spiritual muffle had intensified - she was suspecting it was the Hollow's doing- so she couldn't tell for sure where it was. Judging by the fury in its roars it hadn't intended to throw her so far, which she could probably use to her advantage somehow.

It wasn't big, but it was fast, and smart. Hollows tended to be invariably stupid or desperate when it came to hunting souls. She supposed it was hard to consider food as smart or dangerous when you were _always_ hungry, but this one was bound to be more cautious than most of the Hollows she'd had to deal with before.

And to compound the difficulties, she was injured.

Carefully she shrugged her shoulders, testing the area that had been slashed open and thrown into a wall _twice_. She gasped softly at the pain but was inwardly relieved at how easily the motion came to her. It hurt but she could still move the muscles, which confirmed it wasn't a deep wound.

But the location troubled her; Wounds to the neck and shoulders, even shallow ones, bled vigorously and if she didn't get it treated she was going to be in trouble. Already she could feel a faint weakness to her grip on her sword and she didn't appreciate how much heavier Kogitsune felt in her hand.

Kagome jerked at a sudden crash from above and watched the wall of the building across from her shudder and creak; Apparently the roof had fallen in.

She took advantage of the conditions by ducking into the next alley, now dark and murky with dust billowing out from the warehouse nearby. She was pretty sure she wasn't taking this Hollow down by herself, and her best bet would probably be to try and find Renji. Surely by now he'd noticed something was wrong.

"Where are you little bird?" It was a sing song tone that grated on her nerves but more importantly it was loud and clear; she could tell the Hollow was very close, and now at ground level. She could hear it giggling as it shifted somewhere nearby, perhaps from the pile where the roof had been as she could also hear the creak of rusted metal.

It gave a soft growl then fell silent, leaving Kagome to stand still and glance very carefully and slowly around her in case it hadn't spotted her yet. After several tense moment in which she stopped breathing for fear of being heard, she heard it shift somewhere nearby, quietly climbing up out of the wreckage and slithering off down the alley on the opposite side of the building. As it faded out of hearing she took a long slow exhalation and with the tension run out of her she slumped boneless against the wall.

Smothering her spiritual pressure down as much as possible she crept down the alley opposite of the Hollow's general direction. She paused at the corner glancing both ways in case the Hollow was still on the street. It was clear; She considered crossing the street where it was darker with the shadows of the buildings but she didn't get a chance to try. There was a metallic creak from the roof above her and a long shadow moved over her suddenly. She flash stepped rather than bothering to check what it was, which probably saved her life if the small explosion where she'd been standing a moment ago was any indication.

The buildings on either side of the alley shuddered but remained standing except for one wall which fell in on itself with a loud metallic shriek and veiled the Hollow in dust. "Tricky tricky bird..." it hummed, slithering out of the dust. It waved its head back and forth, like a cobra charmed by a flute, as she backed up a little to maintain the distance between them. It was the way it tucked its scythe-like legs that told her it was about to lunge but even then she wasn't fast enough to move entirely out of the way of its thrashing body. Her hastily formed shield took most of the attack but the impact was still enough to throw her backwards into the street.

She managed to get her feet under her and skid to a stop instead of tumbling head over heels but she was still disoriented from the attack. The Hollow, thankfully, was too distracted to continue the attack and was busily shrieking in agony and writhing over a raw burn on its flank where it had touched her shield.

She raised her hand to cast a Kido before it could recover-

"Kagome!"

She twisted and saw Rikichi followed by - to her horror- Nobooru and his team running towards her. "We felt your Spiritual Pressure! Are you alrigh-" Rikichi started but as they came running out from the gap between two buildings they skidded to a halt at the sight of the screaming enraged Hollow. Its behavior alone was enough for them to tell right away it wasn't part of the simulation.

Rikichi stared in abject horror which was pretty much the same reaction as the rest of them, save for Nobooru who'd seen her fight enough Hollows to freeze and start to back up out of the way where he'd be out of the way of the fight and immediate danger.

"Rikichi, get them out of here and go find Renji!" she snapped. He did nothing, still staring white as a sheet at the Hollow.

"Rikichi!"

At her louder shout the Hollow froze, snarling venomously, and leveled its murderous stare on her.

She turned and screamed "Go!", then charged the Hollow before it decided to go after any of the younger students.

It lunged towards her, severely pissed off at the injury she'd inflicted, and all the more wily for it. She swung her sword but the Hollow drew up at the edge of it and avoided the attack entirely. Hissing like an angry viper it swatted her with its tail and threw her backwards against the stone, and this time it didn't give her a chance to recover; It opened its jaws and like a cobra spitting venom, sprayed a thin silvery white layer over her body. It was strong and sticky, silk that effectively glued her to the concrete despite how much she struggled against it.

Hissing it drew its masked face near to her, and she might've flinched in fear or disgust if she hadn't already been feeling so pissed off herself. When it spoke it was low and sly with the sadistic pleasure of a murderer with its victim right where it wanted. "Now... why don't you just lay there little bird... and watch as I eat your friends..."

Her eyes widened and she glanced back up towards where the others had been -still were- when it moved its head out of her vision.

Rikichi had his sword out now but was standing frozen and white as a sheet as the Hollow advanced on him. Even from where she was she could see him shaking like a leaf in a gale, despite the way Nobooru was frantically trying to pull at him and get him out of the line of fire. The girl and boy on his team looked just as terrified but the way they glanced at Rikichi and backed up as the Hollow advanced told them they weren't as crippled by fear.

"Rikichi! Run!" she shrieked, throwing her weight against the silk, more solid and dry by the moment, but he didn't respond. The Hollow laughed but slithered towards the group leisurely, clearly not in any hurry with its prey frozen in shock. It hissed softly as Nobooru gave up trying to snap Rikichi out of it and pulled his sword out assuming a defensive position.

But when the boy behind him faltered it sprung with an enraged snarl.

"Nobooru!" she screamed as it lunged.

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

The serrated sections of the zanpakuto came down on the Hollow's head, gouging a deep cut into the top corner of its mask and it wheeled back screaming in anger and pain.

Renji jumped down and slashed again at the Hollow though it had sense to duck down away from his strike and back off a bit. She could see Takashi and Shitagawa running to catch up further back though they both froze horrified at the sight of the Hollow screaming in outrage and backing up out of Renji's attack range.

"A-Abarai-senpai...?" Rikichi murmured dazedly. Renji twisted and glared at him when he got no immediate reaction he stomped over and punched him quite unrestrainedly in the jaw.

"Get a hold of yourself!" he snarled waspishly. Rikichi was staring in shock from his position on the ground where he'd fallen but his wide blinking eyes were much more aware as he looked up at the red haired Soul Reaper. "Take these kids outta here! Get back to the meeting spot and tell the groups to cross over to Soul Society if they haven't already! Our radios aren't working so I need you to tell Soul Society what's happened!"

He nodded a bit dumbly but clambered to his feet and started pushing the students back towards where they came from. Renji twisted and yelled over his shoulder to Shitagawa and Takashi, "You too, go with him!" They hesitated but as the shrieking Hollow took out a wall with its thrashing body, quickly nodded instead and took off after Rikichi and the younger students.

Renji flash stepped over to where she was, "You alright?" he asked quickly, "Hold still". She didn't need to be told twice, freezing as the massive serrated Zanpakuto, Zabimaru if she had heard correctly, almost as long and just as fierce looking as Tessaiga, swept a hair's breadth away from her and sheared the silk like it was wet paper.

"I am now" she replied, sitting up and fighting her way out of the broken strands. She reached out and grabbed Kogitsune from where he'd fallen when she hit the ground, then turned her attention to the Hollow writhing over the wound on its head.

"Oda's dead, that thing killed him and took his shape" she stated, looking to the older male. He nodded, "I know. We found his body and the girl's a while after we broke up, I tried to hail you on the communicator but it looks like they're down, I can't even call for backup from Soul Society"

"Thank _him_ for the communicators not working; The Hollow said it 'dealt with' them earlier" she explained, glancing back to the Hollow. It had stopped screeching but was still curled up in pain. Its scythe-like legs were waving slightly, and one in particular was brushing against the wound. She started when she realized it was covered in the Hollow's silk and was carefully coating the wound in its head and mask with the sticky silvery substance.

Seeing her attention elsewhere Renji turned to look at the same thing, and noticing what she did, stood and turned with his sword raised in a defensive stance.

"Go"

She looked up at him but his back was turned to her and all she could see was the edge of his jawline.

"What?" she asked, a little incredulous.

He turned and gave her a stern look over his shoulder. "You did good not getting yourself killed, but you're still just a student, and you're not ready to take on a Hollow like this-"

She wanted to shout, wanted to protest, she'd taken on plenty of Hollows before when she'd lived in the outer districts, and the only difference between now and then was the place and her skill level. He'd must've seen the impending argument because before she could even open her mouth he shouted "Your job is make sure the students on this exercise are safe! So you pick up that Zanpakuto, get up, and get going!"

And as much as she wanted to protest, didn't want to leave him with the pissed off insanely fast Hollow, he was completely right and moreover he outranked her. Disobedience was a pretty serious offense in the ranks of Soul Society, a student was no exception.

"Sir" she snapped in irritated agreement, jumped to her feet and took off after Takashi and Shitagawa.

Better that she went after them anyway; she preferred knowing Nobooru was out of harm's way.

The Hollow howled in outrage at the sight of her leaving and stopped tending its wound long enough to lunge forward towards her as she ran.

"Oh no you don't!" Renji roared, rushing forward with his Zanpakuto.

Zabimaru's released state was very interesting, a combination of a whip and sword, the sharp segments split, extended, and tore another wound into the Hollow's flank which caused it to halt its attack on her and turn screaming to lunge at him instead; If the circumstances were better she might've stopped to admire Renji's skill with his sword, it was the first Shikai she'd seen in real life other than her own, and she wondered what kind of powers it had.

But considering the Hollow seemed to have it out for her it was probably best she continued running.

She took off down the dark alley between two warehouses, ignoring the small scale explosion from behind her, Kido if the lights and flare of power were anything to go by. She could faintly sense Nobooru's energy farther away and was more able to pinpoint him as she drew further from the Hollow and its confusing ability. She skidded around a corner and saw Takashi and Shitagawa running farther ahead, ahead of them were Rikichi and Nobooru's group.

There was a shriek of metal behind her, a building collapsing in on itself, and she turned towards it in time to see the Hollow burst outwards through the wall and slam into her. It had several new gouges in its body to show for its brief tussle with Renji and she could faintly feel what she thought might've been him in pursuit of the Hollow who'd clearly gotten fed up and followed her.

She didn't have a chance to linger on it, as she was suddenly picked up in its tail, curled between its coils so hard she was sure she was going to suffocate. It didn't help that all she could smell was the sour must of its slimy skin, so potent now that she was wrapped up in its coils that every gasping breath that she took only wanted to make her puke. She could feel the wound on the back of her shoulders sting as it came into contact with it.

"No more games!" it roared, bringing her towards its gaping jaws.

Before they could close on her -only a second from getting her head bitten off- half of its face disappeared under smoke as a red ball of energy slammed into its head and exploded. Howling in surprise or pain -possibly both- it dropped her to the ground and she curled up on herself coughing breathlessly. It reared up out of the smoke hissing angrily, mask and neck faintly blackened from the attack but with no apparent injury.

"You think that spell would hurt me you little bastard!?" it shrieked. She turned breathlessly and saw that it was Nobooru who had attacked, the Shakkaho nowhere near strong enough to injure, and was now standing frozen in terror. "I'm going to tear your throat out, then we'll see how well you cast..." it murmured poisonously, starting to slide forward.

She wasn't surprised her brother froze in terror, Hollows had never directed their attention on him so solely before, not when they had her around to tantalize them with her spiritual power or piss them off with her attacks.

She moved to jump to her feet, or tried to at least, the burning pain that flew down her arm when she shifted and tried to push herself to a stand told her she'd injured something. It felt like it might've been her shoulder, she'd landed on it when she fell, and now that she shifted it almost took the breath out of her with the pain. Gasping she shifted her weight to her other arm and struggled to a sitting position, she didn't get far up before the Hollow's sliding tail knocked her back down.

She was almost breathless; The swat had jarred her shoulder worse, it didn't feel dislocated but something was almost certainly broken, and she couldn't help but lay frozen by the injury.

Then-

"Oh? You stand in my way?" the Hollow questioned darkly from somewhere above her.

She blinked away the dark edges of her vision and looked up towards the group. She never would've expected what she saw.

Takashi had stepped forward.

His sword was drawn in an offensive position, Nobooru just behind him and the others farther back. His face was set in a glare which might've been more convincing if she couldn't see him shaking.

The Hollow laughed softly and drew up just a little ahead of her. "I can smell your fear boy..." he said in a soft sing-song voice, anger temporarily displaced.

She could see him falter, "Use Hado Takashi!" she yelled hoarsely, almost too out of breath to shout. She knew he was good with Byakurai, he could pull it off even without the incantation and it was still powerful despite the fact.

The Hollow laughed hysterically, "Use Hado Takashi!" it echoed mockingly, "Yes Takashi use Hado, let's see if it has any bite" It slithered forward, growing ever closer to him as though unconcerned for its safety "You know...you're little friend tried using Hado earlier, right before I tore his face off and made it my own" Takashi went white as a sheet as the Hollow spoke, looking as though he might vomit. She wasn't sure what he'd seen but it must've been bad if even Takashi was reacting like he was.

The Hollow shrieked, this time in delight, "Oh so you've seen my work? Do you like it?" It slithered even closer, "Maybe I'll add your face to my collection too..." it spoke menacingly as it loomed over him.

He trembled for several long seconds, then dropped his Zanpakuto...

He fled.

The Hollow laughed and watched bemusedly as Takashi turned and ran, Shitagawa following a moment after. With great deliberation it swung its head back down to fix its sight on Nobooru who was left standing most forward of the group.

She knew what was coming next, even as time seemed to slow and she took in several things at once;

Rikichi was stepping forward, reaching towards Nobooru with one hand possibly to push or pull him out of the way. The girl was reaching frantically for her nameless Zanpakuto but it probably wouldn't even be enough to hurt the Hollow looming over. The other boy had dropped his sword too and was busily falling to his knees, staring terrified up at the Hollow. She could see Renji in the distance, hopping over the roofs, flash stepping every so often but not far enough that he'd be able to make up the distance in time.

She flipped, using her good arm as leverage and rolling on her bad one. She gritted her teeth through the pain and left Kogitsune wear he lay; This would hurt him anyway.

She flash-stepped; it's farther than she'd normally go and its jostled her injuries in a way that was just plain agonizing but she managed. She can't quite get in front of the Hollow, it's too far too fast, but then she's not really trying to get in front of it. She lands amidst its coils, the Hollow's neck and head stretch out ahead of and above her. Her flare of power from the flash step and the follow up motion caught its attention, enough for it to pause and start to glance back.

She usually tried to avoid using her Mikoki where possible; It was fundamentally different from normal Soul Reaper powers, and Gin had pointed it out enough times for her to be worried about drawing unwanted attention. It would be hard to explain that she had been a Miko in life and still remembered all of said life.

The violent flare of mikoki was loud and flashy; A snarling arc of pink energy taller than her, crackling like lightning and almost blinding even to someone like her who knew it was coming.

But it got the job done.

The gleaming arc tore into the Hollow's neck, sending it reeling back at the impact. It staggered in the air for a moment, as though forgetting how to fall, then slowly staggered backwards and finally came crashing back to the ground twitching, Mikoki still merrily eating away at its body.

For a moment there was no movement and the loudest sound she could hear was her own panting.

Finally the pain and blood loss caught up with her and she sank sharply to sit down on the cold stone.

"Onee-chan!" Nobooru stuttered running over to her and falling to his knees beside her, "Are you alright?" He looked her over for a moment, "You're hurt" he said softly, seeing the dark stain on her back and the way she favored her arm.

She nodded breathlessly, surprised by how much energy she'd expended with just that stroke, of course it was probably compounded by the kido she'd used earlier and all the running around. Kogitsune roiled angrily in her mind and she gestured vaguely towards where she'd left him. Nobooru jumped to feet instantly and ran over to retrieve him for her.

A pair of feet flash-stepped into existence in the corner of her vision and she looked up to see Renji. He was bleeding, a bit profusely, from a cut somewhere on his forehead near his hairline and she thought by the grayness of his kimono that he might've been tossed through a wall. He had a peculiar expression on his face, like he wasn't sure whether to yell at her or congratulate her. He glanced bemusedly at the Hollow, slowly being eaten away by her earlier attack and scratched his head, "Never seen a Kido like that before..."

He trailed off suggestively, but she was in no mood to share, and he didn't press the issue.

He turned and glanced at all the others, "You alright?" The other boy, Nobooru's friend, was still on the ground shaking, but nodded at the question. Rikichi almost jumped to attention and responded "Sir!" The girl was staring at the Hollow, and after moment looked to Kagome with a stunned sort of expression.

"Hey you alright?" Renji prompted when her when she didn't respond.

After a moment she pointed at the Hollow and squeaked. Kagome cocked an eyebrow.

"That was... TOTALLY AWESOME!" the girl shrieked, making Kagome jump in surprise, "The Hollow was like- ! And then you we're all- ! And then- !" Without warning she threw herself to the ground next to her, "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Kagome spent several long seconds blinking in shock at the girl who not even one hour ago had looked like she wanted to throttle her. "Um..." She was pretty sure if this girl had had a tail it'd be wagging. She glanced quickly over her shoulder and Kagome followed suit to see that Nobooru had returned and was looking just as surprised.

"Nobooru-kun!" the girl whined, "Why didn't you tell your sister was so strong?"

Nobooru ducked his head, blushing, and wordlessly handed Kagome her Zanpakuto. Kogitsune still felt decidedly annoyed but became less restless, and she carefully lifted him up over her head and into his sheath with her off-hand.

Renji sighed, "Alright alright. Let's go find that other guy and get the hell outta here"

Other guy?

_Takashi_...

He ran away...

Ran away and left _her little brother_ to take the killing blow.

She stood so abruptly that Nobooru and the girl actually jumped back in alarm. She was decidedly less tired now; Adrenalin and anger pumping suddenly through her veins, Kogitsune snarling like some wild animal in a not too distant part of her mind.

"Onee-chan?" Nobooru questioned softly as she stormed past.

The feeling that suddenly permeated the air was strange... and familiar.

She twisted violently, her shoulder howled in pain at the motion, but the shock was more powerful. Quick as a greased snake the Hollow lunged back upwards with a choked screech and went for the nearest person, fully intending to take someone with it to the grave.

The girl.

She moved to intervene but she wouldn't make it in time; she'd already moved too far away and her Mikoki was too exhausted to create a barrier from so far away.

She watched in horror as the Hollow raised its scythe-like and brought it down on her.

There was the sense of the world skipping a beat...

One second the Hollow was baring down on the girl, the next it was slowly disintegrating into nothing, courtesy of the neat slice running up the center of its mask.

She glanced towards the source of the stroke.

White haori - a Captain - short brown hair, glasses...

'He's so _fast_...' she thought inwardly, awed.

"A-Aizen-taicho!" Renji stuttered.

Of course you didn't get to Captain-status by being slow but still, he had come out of nowhere; The distance he must've crossed with his flash step, the speed with which he'd appeared from outside her sense's range- a modest distance for someone who wasn't even officially a Soul Reaper yet- was incredible.

She was _impressed_.

Aizen turned, and smiled gently at them each in turn.

"It would seem I arrived just in time" he said smoothly.

Kagome was distracted by the sound of running feet and turned to see Aizen's lieutenant, Momo, running frantically towards them. If she had to guess, Aizen had flash stepped the remaining distance to stop the Hollow in time but had left her behind in doing so. She didn't seem terribly affronted so he must have warned her he was doing as much.

"Renji-kun!" she greeted, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Squad 12 received your request for emergency backup but were unable to contact you", Aizen explained, "We were deployed to the Living World immediately. Were there any deaths beyond the first two casualties?"

"Onee-san is hurt" Nobooru pointed out, then flushed and lowered his eyes when the Captain turned and looked at him. But he looked to her instead after a moment and quickly scanned for her injuries.

"Higurashi-kun, we notified Squad Four before we departed Soul Society, they should have a relief team waiting for us on the other side of the Senkaimon. I suggest you get that shoulder looked at by one of their Seated Officers", Aizen suggested, sheathing his sword, "The other students in the exercise have already crossed over to Soul Society. Hinamori-kun will escort you all to the Senkaimon"

Said girl walked over to them and helped Nobooru's friend to his feet, murmuring words of encouragement as she steadied him. Nobooru strayed from her side briefly, long enough to pick up the stray Zanpakuto, Takashi's...

"Let's go" Momo said, turning and starting to walk back down the street.

"Abarai-kun, would you stay behind?" Aizen asked. The red-haired Soul Reaper paused and looked back to him.

She and Rikichi paused too, concerned briefly.

"We need to discuss what happened here" the Captain elaborated. The implication that he wasn't going to say anymore was obvious.

They both turned away, and Nobooru shuffled closer to her glancing up worriedly, probably because of her wound. After a moment he pulled her good arm over his shoulder; She didn't need the support but it was good of him to do it.

At least it made him feel better.

Her thoughts strayed to the Hollow, and she glanced back over her shoulder. Now dead it had completely vanished, but its words lingered in her mind.

In particular...

'_You're fast; He said you would be_'

It had sounded as if... the Hollow had been set on her _deliberately_... and she'd had enough Yokai set on her to recognize pretty quickly when one was specifically targeting her.

But seeing Rikichi throw a nervous grin over his shoulder at her and feeling the enthusiastic stride of the younger girl beside her, she dismissed it; She had probably misheard its words in the dark echoey warehouse.

Afterall...

Who would sic a Hollow on an academy student?

* * *

><p>FINITO!<p>

Yeeesh, it took so long to write and yet looking back on it to proof read it it seems so short.

Hopefully I got all the spelling errors...

CrowFeathers out!


	5. Chapter 5

There is no excuse... for how long this hiatus has been... if you are still reading this... I am sorry...

I never meant to be one of those authors who doesn't update for like two years D8

* * *

><p>There were a few Soul Reapers milling about the Senkaimon as they approached but she was pretty sure by the way they immediately ran over and started reporting to Hinamori that they were part of her Squad. A few of the Squad Eleven officers were still hanging around harassing the lot of them, apparently demanding to know where their superior was.<p>

"Rikichi-kun! Kagome-chan!"

A student pushed her way through a group of Soul Reapers near the Senkaimon, very nearly throwing a man out of the way when he stepped into her path.

"Ha-Hana-chan" Rikichi called, shyly waving at her.

She glared one of the officers into submission then ran over to them. "Are you alright?" she asked, throwing her arms around the two of them –Kagome gritted her teethed and squeaked through the pain- and hugging them close, "I was so worried! That Captain came flying through here and suddenly everyone's being evacuated- I couldn't get a hold of you two-"

"Hana-chan" Kagome interrupted tensely, "I'm sorry for worrying you... but could you _please_... let go..." The woman pulled back a little confused, then saw the way she was carrying her arm across her chest and the dark stain on her back. "You're hurt!" she gasped, pulling back and looking her over, "What happened?"

"A Hollow used me as a sharpening stone" she said dryly, standing still as Hana carefully pulled at the edges of her neckline. She winced as she peeled it back and saw the wound, "That doesn't look good, c'mon, you need to see a healer"

"Was anyone else hurt?" Kagome asked, trailing next to the taller girl. Hana shook her head quickly, "Not that I heard at least; A couple of the students got a bit hysterical and tripped over themselves but I think you were the only one who was hurt"

Kagome sighed, she wasn't sure if she was annoyed that the Hollow had only targeted her or relieved because of it. She did feel sad... the two students... Oda and Yamashita... She hadn't known either of them particularly well; Oda had been civilized but distant with her and Yamashita couldn't have said more than a dozen words to her since they'd met.

Still, she wouldn't have wished that Hollow upon anyone.

"Higurashi-san"

Kagome turned, and saw Hinamori walking back towards her. "You and I are going to go back first so we can get your wound looked at" she explained, gesturing towards the Senkaimon. She flushed a little, embarrassed by the amount of attention being given over her but she nodded nonetheless. As an added afterthought she gestured to the small collection of people around her and asked, "What about them?"

"They'll come after us. Once everyone's crossed and I've dropped you off with the Relief Team, I'll be coming back to help Aizen-taichō with the investigation", Hinamori gestured for her to go first through the Senkaimon.

Kagome brushed back Nobooru's bangs habitually, a comfort more to herself than to him, then nodded to both Rikichi and Hana before stepping through the gleaming gate.

The Senkaimon were strange, bypassing the dark and gloomy Precipice world, one was bathed in white light that blinded but bizarrely didn't actually hurt the eyes. It was calm and quiet, a brief bath of faint spiritual pressure and absence of sound. And then quite abruptly one stepped smoothly out on the other side, into the Soul Society or Living World depending on which way they were travelling.

It was late afternoon in Soul Society; The sky was still clear and blue but there was a faint orange tinge to the sunlight. After the several hours she'd spent in the darkness on the other side it was almost painfully bright and by the time she finished rubbing at her eyes she noticed Hinamori was moving off to talk to some guy with blond hair and sunglasses and _she _was being busily mobbed by Soul Reapers who, judging by their packs, were from the Fourth.

"You're bleeding!"

"Are you feeling lightheaded?"

"Do you need to sit down?"

"Um-" Kagome started.

"She's bleeding! Get fluids!"

"Actually I'm feelin-"

"Isn't the medical tent set up yet?!"

"If someone could just check my shoul-"

"What do you mean we didn't bring any fluids?!"

"I don't think-"

"Iemura-fukutaichō is going to have a cow if you don't get that tent set up!"

"Thanks but I really-"

"I'll bring you a chair!"

"A chair?! She doesn't need a chair you idiot! She needs a medical bed!"

"What!? Clearly this level of blood loss will be exacerbated by lying down!"

"I'm just going to-"

"She needs to sit and rest!"

"She needs to lie still while we heal the injuries!"

Kagome stood watching the arguments bounce back and forth for several moments, wondering who was in charge of this particular peanut gallery, "Okaaayy... I'll just leave you to it then..." she said casually and started to walk away from them.

Chair vs. Bed appeared to be a long standing disagreement judging by the swiftness with which people were splitting into sides and throwing insults at each other.

She glanced to the side when she noticed someone trying to force their way out of where they were trapped between the small throng of people. He was guy with a dark mop of hair and a rather nervous expression, and he seemed awfully familiar.

'Actually... you know him...'

"Hanataro-kun!" she called. He nearly jumped out of his skin at being called out to so suddenly, but when he saw her waving at him with her good arm he smiled , or at least she thought he was smiling, he was so shy it was hard to say for sure.

"Ka-Kagome-san!" he said surprised, "What are you doing here?" "Well I live here for one thing" she said dryly, tired and cranky; she was ready to just go home and sleep, and she was seriously starting to consider just leaving without the medical attention, "For another I'm waiting for someone here to realize I actually need medical attention"

"Actually..." she said, trailing off for a moment, "Could you take a look at it? I landed on it earlier and I think I might've broken something"

"O-oh.. you're shoulder?" he asked, walking towards her side and carefully examining the still faintly oozing slice on her back and the way she cradled her arm.

He looked around for a moment then pointed towards the Medical Wing of the Academy nearby, "Do you think you can walk there?"

"I'm not entirely crippled you know" she said jokingly and began to walk towards it.

Hanataro lingered briefly to say a few short words with someone, the sunglasses guy from earlier, before he jogged after her.

The Soul Reaper that oversaw the Academy's Medical Wing was always a Squad 4 unseated officer that worked with a half a dozen others of similar standing on week-long rotations. Their skill sets were mostly limited to the minor scrapes and bruises associated with students alternately beating each other with shinai or blowing themselves up with Kido; if a more serious injury presented itself they contacted the Fourth who then sent someone more qualified.

For this reason the medical ward was pretty empty save for a few frantic students who were still mildly panicky after the impromptu evacuation from Living World. A couple of the Healers looked up at them as they entered, looking briefly confused, but turned away once they saw her condition.

Hanataro led her over to one of the stations and had her sit down on the edge of the futon while he set up one of the folding screens to give her some privacy. She carefully pulled at the sash that held Kogitsune across her back, wincing as he briefly dropped onto her shoulder as he fell.

She could still feel him writhing agitatedly in her mind but he gave an apologetic caress from deep in her mindscape when she flinched.

Hanataro came over and undid his medical pack, spreading it over the bottom of the futon. Kagome shrugged her kosode off her good shoulder, then very carefully and with Hanataro's help pulled it down and off.

"It might be more comfortable if you were to lie down; this cut on your neck looks like it's going to take a while"

* * *

><p>Nobooru stumbled out of the Senkaimon briefly disoriented but was quickly righted by Hana. He nodded to the tall girl shyly then quickly scanned for Kagome. From where he was he couldn't see anyone resembling her but it was hard to make out anyone in the small sea of black-clad Soul Reapers milling about the Senkaimon barking orders at each other. There were some students hanging around but they were mostly older ones, muttering amongst themselves about what happened, he recognized a few as overseers from the exercise.<p>

He spotted the Lieutenant from before striding towards them, probably to go back to her Captain in Living World but she didn't seem to be paying them any mind. He reached out to wave her down but a hand came down on his shoulder. He glanced up over his shoulder and saw that it was Hana. "She is probably over at the Medical Wing to get her injuries treated. I'm going to go up to our dormitory to get her a change of clothes, so how about you go check on her?"

He nodded and started to walk off towards the building he knew to be the Medical Wing; It was the footsteps that immediately followed that caused him to pause and look back. Kyoko was following, and she paused long enough to narrow her bright green eyes at him as though daring him to object to her going too.

That Rikichi guy was following too but his friend, Taro, was waving weakly at him as he turned and walked off in the direction of their shared room. Hana was being intercepted by a frantic looking Eri but he could see the tall woman point briefly at the Medical Wing as she spoke.

He turned back, glanced shyly at Kyoko then continued walking towards where Kagome ought to be.

The Medical Wing was well lit and fairly empty; There were a few students and a nurse lingering around one of the beds at the end of the room, and he recognized most of them from his Kido classes. But Kagome wasn't among them and he glanced around quickly. There was a wooden screen set up nearby and he came near enough to it to gently tap on the corner, "Onee-chan?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm here Nobooru. Come around", his adopted sister's familiar voice rang out gently. He ducked around the edge to find his sister sat on one of the beds. Behind her was a young man, Fourth judging by the medical pack spread all over and the way he was tightening bandages around her chest and shoulders. The bandages curved up and around her neck, hiding her wounds from sight, but not entirely concealing the large dark bruise that ran down her back and part of her side.

She looked tired but didn't seem to be in any pain as Hanataro finished up with the bandages.

"Are you okay?" he asked, carefully sitting in front of her. She nodded her head, "I'm fine... although I'm going to be out of classes for a while with my arm like this" she said gently.

She glanced over his shoulder at the others, "Where's Hana-chan?" "She went up to your room to get you some clean clothes" he explained. She made a soft noise of acknowledgement then reached out with her good arm and pushed his bangs back out of his face. "How about you...? You alright...?" she asked. He nodded under her hand.

* * *

><p>She felt an irrational surge of pride mixed simultaneously with anger. He'd pulled a stupid move; Attacking the Hollow, brave as it was, was decidedly above his skill level and beyond foolish. He probably had saved her life with the hasty attack but it had very nearly cost him his. She ached to see Sota again, never realizing how much she was going to miss her bratty brother, she wished she could've let him know how much she loved him -all of her family- when she'd had the chance. Looking back every moment with them didn't seem enough and more than even her own death, she wished she could fix that. Nobooru may not have really been her brother but she'd grown just as close to him during the year they'd wandered the Districts before stumbling across her father. And even though her father didn't remember her after passing over, he had still welcomed her into the already large family he had adopted whilst living in the Rukon District.<p>

"You did good... But promise me you won't jump into a fight unprepared like that again... okay?" she said softly. He nodded, somewhat reluctantly, but nodded all the same.

"Good boy..." she dropped her forehead against his affectionately.

After a moment she glanced up at the rest of the small group. "Are you all alright?" she asked. Rikichi nodded quietly and the girl copied the motion.

Kagome sighed softly and shifted carefully lifting her arms when Hanataro prompted so he could reach around and slip a long sheet of cloth beneath her arm and up over her shoulder for a sling.

"Are you in any pain?" the girl asked. Kagome smiled softly and said, "I'm fine. I've had worse injuries than this..." She noted Hanataro packing up and standing behind her and said, "Thank you, Hanataro-kun. I feel a lot better" "I was happy to help Kagome-san. You'll have to stay out of classes for a few days until you're shoulder is better; I'll make sure to tell the Head of the Academy, although he's probably been told what's happened already" Hanataro explained. "Thank you again" she added as he left.

Rikichi tentatively sat down on one of the chairs nearby and the girl from Nobooru's team settled down on the edge of the futon next to Nobooru. Kagome noted how she sat close to him and smiled softly. "I didn't catch your name..." she trailed off suggestively. The girl grinned, and proudly announced, "I'm Fujioka Kyoko, a second year, like Nobooru-kun" At his name Nobooru flushed and ducked his head shyly, which made Kagome smile inwardly; She was almost certain with Nobooru's behaviour so far that he had a crush on this girl.

So she smiled, nodded and replied, "I'm Higurashi Kagome, as you may've heard. You're in my Otouto's classes?" Kyoko nodded in response, "Almost all the same ones, I'm in a more advanced Zanjutsu class and he's in a higher Kido class but everything else is the same" Kagome turned to Nobooru in time to see him look deftly away and murmured, "I see..."

A soft rapping on the edge of the screen drew her attention away from the two and she glanced up to see Hana with a long bundle of white and red cloth draped over her arm and a wide-eyed Eri with her hands clasped over her mouth. "Kagome!" Eri shrieked, "Are you alright?!" The small blond girl launched herself across the room at her and wrapped her arms around her neck. Kagome tensed, gritting her teeth with a soft grunt as Eri wailed into her ear, "I was so worried! Everyone realized that they couldn't talk to anyone else and then Hana-chan showed up and she didn't know where you were-!" "Eri-chan" Hana said. "Those thugs from the Eleventh wouldn't let us leave! And then the Fifth showed up and started evacuating us-!" "Eeeerriiii" Hana called. "And then there was that Captain who showed up but you weren't there and-" "Eri!" Hana barked.

The girl started and pulled back slightly so she could look over her shoulder at the taller girl. She shook her head and pointed, "Let the woman go, you're hurting her". Eri turned back and looked at Kagome, seeing the way she was tensed up; She immediately dropped her arms - "Thank you..." Kagome whined with a weak smile - "Sorry!" Eri yelped, leaning back and sitting down beside her.

Hana strode forward and draped her clean uniform over the edge of the bed before sitting down on the other chair beside Rikichi.

"So..." Eri started, "What happened?" "Yeah, we were almost back at the meeting point when Nobooru felt your Spiritual Pressure, and we could hear explosions" Rikichi continued. "Where'd that Hollow come from?" Nobooru asked.

She hesitated to answer, not sure if she was supposed to be speaking about it or not, but with so many Soul Reapers involved it probably wasn't exactly a secret.

"I'm not sure exactly but I think that Hollow was what caused the barrier to act so strange" she started, "It attacked and killed Oda-san and Yamashita-san after it broke through" Their expression briefly turned horrified but Nobooru recovered the quickest, after her he was the most used to Hollows and their sudden attacks on people.

After a moment Rikichi looked slightly confused, "What do you mean 'after it broke through'; Oda-san was with us…" he trailed off. "Did it follow him, and attack after we separated from you?" Hana asked instead.

Kagome shook her head, "Oda _was_ the Hollow"

"What?! That's-" Eri stuttered shocked. They were wearing expressions of varying surprise and disbelief but Hana only seemed coldly serious. "I've never heard of a Hollow like that!" Rikichi exclaimed nervously. "How? I didn't think Hollow had any powers like that" Kyoko commented quietly.

"Actually…" Hana started, "I feel like I've read about something like this once before…"

Kagome wasn't surprised, there were probably very few things Hana hadn't read about, and the only reason she herself hadn't been terribly surprised by the rare ability was because of how frequently she'd seen Yokai do it.

"I remember now" Hana said suddenly " Last year Onabara-sensei gave me permission to go through old incident reports where the Relief Teams from Squad 4 were specifically dispatched so I could get a feel for it if I wanted to continue my Advanced Healing Class; There was an incident a few decades ago where a Hollow actually possessed a Soul Reaper in one of the Squads. It was pretty serious; a Lieutenant and a bunch of Seated and Unseated Officers were killed"

"This didn't seem to be the same thing. It was more of a second skin, like shape shifting. Oda-san was already dead by the time he 'found us again'" she explained. "And then it came after me next…"

"You were probably the easiest target. With me gone and a younger team to send away, it could probably tell it would be easier to send Rikichi-kun away with the team than it would to get you to leave them and that you had more power to offer anyway" Hana suggested.

'When am I not the favorite target?' she thought inwardly, carefully shifting her arm out of the sling enough so she could try to pull on her kosode. Eri, who was closer to her, reached out and helped to guide the sleeve up over her arm and shoulder. Hana turned and started to shoo the rest out to the other side of the screen so she could shuck her bloodied hakama and slip into the clean ones.

It would probably hurt to carry Kogitsune across her back like she normally would so she tightened the sash a little and draped him over her left shoulder with a hand on the sheath to keep him from waving around too much. Hana hadn't brought her fresh tabi or zori, but the ones she was wearing were already mostly dried. She bundled the dirty clothing in her hand then stepped out from behind the screen to join the others.

There were less Soul Reapers running around when they stepped out of the Medical wing but more students milling about gossiping. They were clustered around the large central courtyard, murmuring amongst themselves, some groups in discussion with black uniformed Soul Reapers. The Fourth seemed to be entirely absent but those who remained seemed to be mainly Fifth.

She noticed Lieutenant Hinamori was nearby, apparently giving orders to some of the officers and speaking to a number of students still hanging around; Many of them she recognized as having been part of the exercise. She noticed them as they stepped out of the Wing and waved to them.

Kagome paused, gave a weak smile, and walked over to her when she beckoned. "Higurashi-san. I was looking for you. How's your arm?" she asked. Kagome smiled, "Not too bad. I have to take it easy for a few days but I'll be fine" "That's good. Aizen-taicho sent me back to get statements from some of the students; Could I talk to you now, if you feel up to it?"

"Of course, did you need to talk to Rikichi-kun and Hana-chan too?" she asked. Hinamori shook her head, "No, these officers will take theirs" she explained, gesturing to the Soul Reapers she'd been talking to just a moment ago, "Renji-kun mentioned you were alone against the Hollow so Aizen-taichō asked me to talk to you personally"

Some of the officers she'd been talking to guided her friends farther away to speak to them separately. She trailed off a little bit with Hinamori.

Mainly she was just asked to regurgitate everything that had happened on the exercise. Hinamori asked her a lot of questions about if and what she'd sensed before the barrier flared, which she couldn't really answer on account of everything having been so calm up to that point. She struggled to put into words the Hollow's strange power to confuse her Spiritual Senses but Hinamori seemed to understand her well enough.

She inwardly wished she'd gotten more talk out of the thing, maybe then she'd know where it had come from and how it had gotten in.

Nobooru was already waiting for her when she finished up, no surprise considering he'd only seen the Hollow very briefly. She was glad to see that Renji had returned, he was standing over where her brother and Kyoko were, looking increasingly nervous as Eri's prattling -it was easy to tell, even from the distance- became increasingly excitable; Hana was nowhere in sight- probably still being interviewed- to get the younger girl back under control.

She hadn't taken two steps towards the group before she was intercepted again and this time the pristine white haori was a giveaway.

"A-Aizen-taicho!" she stuttered, a bit startled by his sudden presence.

Good god he was quiet. She thought Gin was sneaky, but this Captain took that skill to an even higher level; the man was a ghost.

He smiled good-naturedly at her, "I apologize if I scared you; I trust your injury wasn't too severe?" She straightened nervously, "Ah! Yes, Hanataro-kun said I should take it easy for a few days but it's nothing permanent" "That's good to hear, I'm sure you'd be worried about missing many classes at a time like this..." he trailed off.

She felt a little confused, wondering what he meant by 'time like this', and the confusion must've shown on her face because he quickly elaborated. "You and Kumoi-kun are being considered for early graduation correct?"

Oh!

Oh...

She'd forgotten all about the chance of graduation, caught up in all the hubbub of having gotten her shikai and the exercise going belly up. Now it came crashing back with full-force, and even though her injury was mild she felt a pang of anxiety for the outcome of the decision. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to graduate or not yet; The thought of being a full-fledged Soul Reaper at last excited her but neither did she want to leave Nobooru behind.

"I had forgotten" she mumbled to herself.

"While we're on the topic" Aizen continued, "Have you given any thought to which Squad you'd like to join?"

It was such a sudden question that she was caught a little off guard, "Oh! Well... I hadn't really given it much thought. I mean... It's kind of premature to be thinking about such a thing isn't it? It's not like they've exactly finalized anything"

He smiled, "Well that is true but it's always a good thing to consider your options for the future" he paused, as though considering something, and in the brief silence she could feel the rumbling in her soul -Kogitsune growling softly- before he continued, "Regardless of their ruling, I'm prepared to say that if you would want it, there will be a position open for you in my Squad"

She was shocked. The man had barely had more than five minutes of direct contact with her and he was just guaranteeing her a position just like that?

"But-! Aizen-taicho they haven't even- Neither of us have even graduated- I mean... Why me? Takashi's a noble, I'm just-"

"Don't sell yourself short" he cut her off, gently putting his hand on her good shoulder-Kogitsune snarled- and giving her a smile that was nothing less than sincere "Today's exercise was supposed to be a safe and easy scenario for all the students, including the overseers. We still don't know how that Hollow got in unnoticed, especially as powerful as it was. As great a tragedy as it is that those two students died, it could've been a great deal worse... and from the reports of my officers, the fact that it wasn't is in no small part thanks to you"

She should be used to it by now, she'd been praised by her teacher enough times, been hailed -unhappily so- as a genius in front of her peers, that she should be used to it. But she wasn't, and his sudden praise made her, as usual, somewhat uncomfortable.

Worse, the man was standing right in front her and probably fully expecting a reply to his offer.

She sank into a deep, respectful bow, while she reached out frantically in her mind for the most political neutral answer she could think of, "I'm honoured by your offer, Aizen-taichō. I will be sure to consider it in the future when I'm intending to apply to the Gotei 13 sir"

She hoped he wasn't going to pry for a more decisive reply.

At any rate it seemed to be sufficient for him, because he gave a soft noise of acknowledgement and replied, "I hope to hear from you in the future then. Squad 5 welcomes Soul Reapers of all backgrounds and specialties; Your skill in Bakudo would be most welcome" More like her only skill, her Hado was atrocious, a fact she was glad he had skimmed around. Although to be fair she was quite proud of the Byakurai she'd managed against the Hollow, a story she'd be reiterating to her Kido teacher first chance she got. In her periphery she saw him glance away towards something past her before glancing back down at her, "Do consider my offer Higurashi-kun, I hope to see you again soon"

She recognized easily enough that she was being politely dismissed, and straightened from her bow. She could understand why he was so well loved by even the students at the Academy; His kind words, calm disposition, and gentle smile gave him a very open and inviting presence.

Turning away she noted the others still waiting for her farther away, each wearing increasingly curious looks. In the time she'd spoken to Aizen Hana had returned from where she'd been but Nobooru was curiously absent.

Striding up to them she glanced one last time back over her shoulder at Aizen but he'd already turned away to address his Lieutenant and a few other officers.

"So? What was that about? Did he tell you some super secret thing about the Hollow?" Eri asked excitedly. Kagome didn't respond right away and Eri looked like she was of half a mind to continue except that Hana dropped her hand gently down on her head.

"No, not anything secret..." she replied, absentmindedly scratching at her neck where the sling was chafing a little, "He offered me a position once I've graduated"

"What?!" Eri shrieked excitedly. Hana and Rikichi wore matching expressions of shock, Renji looked surprised but not terribly so, and Kyoko was staring at her in awe.

"Did you say yes?!" Kyoko asked excitedly, gently grabbing her good arm to get her attention. "I told him I'd consider it, and that I was thankful for the offer..." she said, "I didn't know what to say, it was very sudden... and unexpected, I didn't think he knew me that well..."

Renji patted her shoulder, "Aizen-taicho's a good judge of character, and a very good Captain; My friends and I were all offered positions in the 5th straight out of the Academy. I was transferred out to 11th about a decade ago, but Momo - Aizen's Lieutenant - stayed on in the 5th, and our other friend, Izuru, went to the 3rd"

"Kira Izuru?" she asked, "I know him, he's a friend of mine" Renji looked a little surprised, "You've met him already?" "Yeah, well... I met Gin a couple years ago when I was attacked by a Hollow in the Rukon District, he helped get me into the Academy after that" Kagome explained, "One day he brought his 'new lieutenant' when he came to check on me, and I recognized Izuru-kun from the Haiku class, so I was glad to get to know him"

Renji gave her a rather perplexed look, "You're friends with Ichimaru-taicho...?" She smiled at his expression and commented, "You could say that... it's hard to say with that man..."

She trailed off and scanned quickly around, then glanced down to where Kyoko was still clinging to her, "Do you know where Nobooru-kun went?"

She smiled up at her, "He went over there" she replied quickly, pointing away towards the doorway of the walled-in Academy grounds. She cast out her sense, weakened from the day's events, but strong enough that she could just sense her brother's spiritual pressure.

It felt like he was just on the other side of the door, and not alone judging by the familiar power she was also able to sense near to him.

She broke away from the group, with a backwards mutter of "I'll be right back".

She wondered briefly wondered if the others would want to go have lunch once this was all said and done; she was tired but more so she was hungry and the idea of food was more appealing than a soft bed, even with her injury.

She walked through the doorway, scanning for the short form of her little brother.

Sure enough he was just around the corner, seemingly dismayed and surrounded by a small group of older students, a few of which seemed to be eagerly asking him questions. This didn't seem to be what was making him uncomfortable, and she felt her blood boil to realize what the real problem was.

Takashi...

Her spiritual pressure -exhausted as it was- spiked at the sight of him, and his sly proud smirk, as if he'd accomplished something; He was probably mouthing off to Nobooru, as if it was getting him anywhere.

But how dare he... how dare he have the gall to stand there with that arrogant expression on his face? After running away, dropping his Zanpakuto, and leaving her little brother to stand in the Hollow's path...

She growled, like the fox her Zanpakuto was named after, and stalked forward.

Perhaps Takashi's power was also drained from the fight in the Living World, perhaps he just wasn't paying attention; at any rate, he didn't notice her approach. But Shitagawa did. So did one of the girl's standing near her brother. And judging by the way they backed out her way quickly she must've been quite a sight to behold; Animal snarl on the tip of her tongue and spiritual pressure roiling like an impending thunderstorm.

Nobooru jumped and jerked out of her way as her angered Spiritual Pressure swept over him, familiar enough with her temper to know when it was time to **back up**. This was what Takashi noticed, and looked up towards her in time to have her fist land in the middle of his face.

It was a poor shot; She'd been aiming for his jaw but had gone to hit him with her bad arm and the pain had sent it off.

It was enough to send him stumbling backwards though, until he finally fell staring skyward a little stunned. For a few heartbeats he just laid shocked, his friends staring stunned and horrified. Then his face contorted and he raised his hands to his nose with a long pained groan.

One of the girls threw herself down next to next to him with an "Oh my god!" Shitagawa was staring down at him blankly, but the guy next to him leaned over, "Are you alright?" The girl that was sitting down fussing over him turned and glared at her with a yell of, "What is wrong with-"

She trailed off at sight of her expression, which must've been a truly worthy Sesshomaru-patented death stare if the way she -and everyone else around her- wilted.

"I 'ink she b'oke ma nose!" Takashi wailed loudly from behind his hands, but received very little sympathy from his cowering friends, and nothing less than a snarl from her.

Her gaze snapped to Nobooru, who actually jumped when she looked at him, and then quickly down to his hands which gripped a familiar red handled Zanpakuto; She snatched it from him and slammed it into the stone between Takashi's knees.

She felt the harsh impact of the steel all the way up to her shoulder, her injured one especially which was now throbbing in pain again. But the pain didn't serve to temper her anger any, if anything she was just getting more snarly.

"You dropped this back there" she hissed, "In the Living World when you put your tail between your legs and ran away from that Hollow... and left my little brother on the receiving end of its attention instead"

Some of Takashi's friends glanced down at him, where he'd gone very still and quiet when she'd stabbed own sword down in front of him, with expressions that told her that it was news to them.

"What kind of a Soul Reaper do you ever hope to become if you couldn't even face a Hollow when it was clearly trying to psych you out?"

He couldn't meet her eyes, and it was only this sign of shame that kept her from lunging after him further.

The girl next to him seemed entirely unfazed though, and puffed up angrily like the comments had been aimed at her. "How dare you speak to the son of a nobleman like that?! You're just a Rukon district street rat who doesn't know anything about real Soul Reapers. That Hollow killed two students! How is Takashi-kun supposed to fight-" "Takashi was put up for early graduation you air-headed twit! If he joined the Gotei 13 tomorrow he'd be expected to do nothing BUT slay Hollows day in, day out. Have you even been paying any attention to what we're here to learn? From day one all a Hollow does is hunt and eat souls. If a Soul Reaper cowered in the face of every Hollow that killed someone then talked big about it then there wouldn't be a lot of us left!"

Some of the nobles looked ashamed, of Takashi or of themselves she wasn't entirely sure, and quite frankly she didn't care. Takashi glanced up at her, then quickly down to his Zanpakuto, which judging by its faint spiritual power being emanated, might've been speaking - or trying to speak- to him. His eyes lingered on it before he dropped his gaze to the side with something that may've been shame. He said nothing. The girl next to Takashi however looked distinctly offended, and might've been gearing up to insult her right back or defend Takashi's precious honour.

Kagome wasn't having any of it, her spiritual power rose angrily, Kogitsune snapping his maw in her mind. What the girl was going to say she'd never know; As her power rose and started to loom ominously in the air, another spirit pressure - powerful and broad- pressed right back. It was strong and decisive, smothering her power back down without being overly oppressive or threatening.

Then a hand came down on her good shoulder, large and warm, and a male voice spoke next to her, "Alright Kagome-chan... it's not worth getting court-martialed over" She turned surprised at the somewhat familiar voice and met very warm brown eyes, her agitated spiritual pressure dissipating under the firm insistence of his. Straw hat, pink haori. He smelled of something slightly smokey, and of flowers on the wind. "Kyouraku-taicho..." she trailed off. What was with all these Captains showing up out of nowhere... and why the hell was he referring to her so casually?

He gently patted her good shoulder then pulled away and turned towards Takashi and the other students. "I take it I can trust you students to get Takashi-kun back inside where someone from Fourth can look at his nose?" The students nodded nervously, carefully gathering up said male, still lying somewhat stunned on the ground, and his zanpakuto before they slinked by her. She stared furiously at them as they passed, tempted to snarl at Takashi some more. But the punch to the face was probably already too much, threatening him to keep away from her and her little brother probably wouldn't blow over well with the nobles.

"Well that was exciting hm?" Kyouraku joked, slinging an arm back around her shoulders -gently minding her injured one- and turned with her to walk her back towards the entrance.

Renji, looking a bit startled at the sight of the Captain practically carrying her, was standing near the doorway, probably having come to check on her when her spiritual pressure flared. Nobooru was trailing nervously behind and next to her, very quiet and trying -successfully- to look small. Hana and Eri were behind Renji, poking their heads around the corner. Farther back she could sense Rikichi and Kyoko approaching.

'Exciting...?' she thought inwardly. She disagreed; she was still beyond ticked off and her shoulder was starting to throb in pain again. Nobooru's nervous reiatsu, Renji's examination of her, and Kyouraku's attempts to lighten the obvious tension leftover from her outburst was only making her want to gnash her teeth.

"Perhaps you should get that shoulder looked at again Kagome-chan" he said amiably, steering her towards her friends; He must've been able to feel the renewed heat gathering in the injured area, or perhaps the wound along the back of her neck had reopened and was staining the bandages. Regardless, she knew that she did NOT want to be near Takashi or she might try to really hurt him.

"I'm going home" she declared waspishly, ducking out from under the Captain's arm and storming off towards the gate to the Rukon District. She was supposed to rest for a few days anyway, so it wasn't like she was going to miss anything by leaving. She heard the Captain mutter a few sentences to someone behind her as she strode away then glanced at whoever ran to catch up with her, Nobooru as it turned out to be. He was nervously avoiding her gaze, perhaps worried she'd turn and start reprimanding him instead.

Her gaze softened, and after a moment she dropped her hand onto to his head, making him jump and look up at her. "I don't think that you were given the next few days off were you?" she asked him. "That Captain said I should go with you and that he'd talk to the teachers so I wouldn't get into any trouble" That was nice of him, she felt rude for having just stormed away now.

She ruffled Nobooru's hair and dropped her arm onto his shoulder. He still seemed a little tense but relaxed after a few moments and grabbed onto her hand. "So what did you think of your first Living world exercise?" she asked sarcastically.

"What a disaster!" he exclaimed.

* * *

><p>She was tired, and sore, and with Nobooru also tired from the exercise it took them an inordinately long time to make their way to home, the sun already setting by the time they made it to their district. Her father's home was out of the way, tucked in behind a number of other houses. It was somewhat small with most of the property taken up by an enclosed garden in the back, where there was an ancient peach tree and several small vegetable patches. It had two levels although the upper level wasn't much more than a storage loft for pickled food and extra bedding, sometimes used as a sleeping area when someone was sick or wanted quiet. The street to get to it ran along a small river that cut through several of the districts, and she had to cross bridges a few times to get there.<p>

She and Nobooru ducked into the small alley between two houses and the front door to her father's house immediately came into view. The paper lamp that hung next to the doorway was already lit and she could hear a great deal of noise tumbling out from the gap where the window was propped open, indicating that it was probably supper time. Nobooru walked forward and pushed the door open for her. "We're home!" he yelled loudly as he pushed it closed again behind her and they stood in the doorway waiting for a response, which came quickly. "Ah? Is that you Nobooru?" a man yelled from the living room, right before there were an assortment of ecstatic "Onii-san!" and a small hoard of children tumbled around the corner to greet him. Several of them paused briefly at the sight of her then, and screamed "Onee-san's here too!"

Nobooru lifted his arms and stood tense and uncomfortable while several of the kids latched onto his middle, while Kagome reached out with her good arm and ruffled a few heads as the rest grabbed onto her legs. One child, a young brown-haired green-eyed girl of about five or six but small for her age, very gently touched her sling and asked softly, "Nee-chan, are you hurt?" Kagome smiled softly down at her, "I'm fine, Asahi-chan, there was a bit of excitement today during training but it's nothing serious. Although I do get to stay home for a little while" Several kids squealed in delight and grabbed onto her, carefully so as to not jostle her arm, but she made a point to hold onto Asahi's hand when the small girl reached out for it.

Her father's personality hadn't changed any in the Soul Society; He had adored children in the living world and if not for his illness and eventual death she knew she would've had many more siblings than just Souta. When he'd come to Soul Society he'd started taking in stray children, orphans and runaways in the district, and every time she turned around there seemed to be another. He didn't really have any spiritual pressure to speak of, and neither did most of the children, but he sold peaches and pickled vegetables from the garden at the market in one of the districts closer to the Seireitei and used the money mainly to buy clothes and furnishings, sometimes the occasional treat. He also received money from her "older siblings" whom she'd never actually met but were living abroad in the other districts or, in one older brother's case, in the Seireitei as a Soul Reaper.

"Little bird…"

Speaking of her father, she looked up from the kids to the man standing in the hall. He looked the same as he had last time she'd seen him a month or so ago, although his expression was concerned rather than relaxed as his eyes scanned her neck and shoulder, lingering on the bandages mostly hidden by her collar. But he quickly put on a pleased face, one that didn't quite reach his eyes, and barked enthusiastically "Alright you little monsters, Kagome and Nobooru are obviously home for the night. Now everyone, back to the table" They gave yells of delight and raced back towards the main room, immediately arguing over who got to sit next to who. "And someone get extra cushions for the two of them!" he added as they bolted around the corner. With them gone his face became more honestly concerned and he strode towards them, "I thought you two might be a little weary of the commotion, now what really happened?" She looked up at him as he gently examined her arm and shoulder and she spoke as he did, "There was a Living World exercise for Nobooru's class, and mine was overseeing. Long story short a Hollow got in; Big one, strong. It killed a couple of students before a Captain finally got there and killed it"

He made a face, like he wasn't certain if he should be annoyed or worried. "This is the first time you've been injured since going to the Academy" he murmured softly and she could feel how unsettled he was. "It was bound to happen sooner or later, it's pretty much my job to slay Hollows now, assuming of course I don't get thrown out after today" she said casually, muttering the last bit more to herself than anyone else, but her father cocked a brow at it none the less. "Kagome decked Takashi" Nobooru elaborated quickly.

To her annoyance, he didn't look terribly surprised at this information, only looked to her for confirmation. "That noble boy? The one your sensei always pairs you with?" She only gave a soft growl of confirmation. He stared her down for a moment, then said, "Well you can tell me later, come, we were actually just about to sit down to a meal"

Food sounded good, and she reached down and pulled her tabi off. The main room of the house was a small cramped affair as the low table in the center took up most of the room and almost every other square foot of floor was devoted to the cushions on which everyone was sitting. Several of the kids screamed out as they entered, demanding either Kagome or Nobooru to sit with them but Kagome made her usual beeline for Asahi who was sitting quietly, looking up at her hopefully. Food as it turned out was rice and some sort of grilled fish, somewhat plain but no less filling after such a long and chaotic day.

As evening turned to night she was kept busy and entertained by the multitude that were her adopted brothers and sisters until things wound down, and they pushed aside the cushions and table to lay out the futons instead.

Kagome lay across her blankets listening to the busy snoring and sleep talking of everyone around her. Kairen slept peacefully on the other side of the room with a child wriggled under each arm and one flopped across his chest. Nobooru was somewhere within reach above her head with younger brothers wedged under each arm, but none of the kids had piled on top of her as per her father's instructions. Asahi though slept close enough to wrap her hands around her own but hadn't gotten as close as she usually did when she was home.

With the room finally quiet she was able to actually lay still with her thoughts. Her neck throbbed as a reminder of the day and she thought back to the horrific Hollow that had targeted her, tormented her with that damn song as if she was five again, and very nearly killed both her friends and her brother. More than just the Hollow, which at the end of the day had simply done what all Hollows did, her own impatient acts however had been purely her own stupidity.

'You idiot' she thought to herself, 'You had to go and punch Takashi. You couldn't just be happy that it was over and that everyone was okay… Captain Kyouraku might've been joking about it when he said it, but I really will be lucky if I don't get court martialed. Takashi's is a noble family, half of them are Soul Reapers themselves and he's even got a grandfather who sits in the Central 46, gods knows he's only spent every day gloating about it since he joined the academy'

Asahi coughed nosily next to her and she reached out nervously to check her temperature. Asahi was a very sickly child, she almost always had the flu and the number of times it had turned into pneumonia couldn't be counted on one hand even though she'd only known Asashi for a few years. No fever this time, probably just a cough from the dry summer air.

'I wonder… If Takashi's family kicks up a stink then they might not even let me become a Soul Reaper' she thought sullenly. It wasn't like she ever really thought of becoming a Soul Reaper when she'd first come to Soul Society, despite her apparently growing aptitude for it. But it had changed after meeting Gin that day in the market when the Hollows attacked her. After seeing Gin, talking to him, she'd found herself wanting to stand among their ranks in that court of white stone, at the center of Soul Society. That someone as petty as Takashi should now stand in her way was ... painful.

'You idiot' she thought to herself once again, squeezing her eyelids shut against the soft sting behind her lids..

* * *

><p>The next few days flew by in a blur of overeager siblings and market shopping. She sends Nobooru back after a day because, as much as he'd<em> love <em>to stick around and carry pickle jars to and from the markets for her father, he's not injured and doesn't have an excuse to linger.

Gin shows up, grinning as always, with Izuru in tow to casually inquire how she's feeling but they linger for only a few minutes as they're on their way back from far patrol investigating a suspected Hollow incursion.

So it was with a heavy heart and jumpy nerves that she strapped Kogitsune across her shoulder and headed back towards the inner districts and ultimately the Academy three days later.

It was about as pleasant as she'd expected; by the time she made it back the rumour mill had had a full 72 hours to not only get a hold of the Hollow attack and her part in it, but to circulate it, vigorously. People whispered to each other and pointed at her as she walked back towards the girls' barracks, and though she couldn't catch any of the conversation she could only imagine what they were saying. 'What? They don't anything have better to do than gossip like little old ladies?' she thought irately, and shot a particular snide looking group of nobles an icey stare. They all flinched simultaneously and moved off too quickly to be anything less than a retreat.

Maybe decking Takashi had actually been of some benefit, if for no other reason than to see the reactions of his peers. It was a bit fun.

Climbing the stairs wasn't fun though, she'd strapped Kogitsune at the opposite angle she usually did so it wouldn't hurt her shoulder too much but he knocked against the base of her neck with every step she took. He brushed against her apologetically but otherwise didn't react much; he'd been quiet these last few days.

"Higurashi-kun!" someone yelled just as she made it halfway up and she paused to turn and check. Onabara-sensei stood panting on the landing below but he brightened when she turned around, and said, "Ah! Good, I thought it was you" She sighed internally but turned around fully and walked back down the steps to meet him.

"Sensei" she greeted tiredly.

"I won't keep you long, you must still be tired. Are you healing well?"

"Well enough, sensei. I'm not going to be swinging Kogitsune over my head or anything for the next few days but I'm not going to tear open a wound or anything either"

He nodded, "Ah, very good. Actually I'm quite glad that you've come back quickly, you're exempt from classes obviously but would you come down to my office at noon the day after tomorrow?"

She hesitated, there's something weird here, an odd little lilt to Onabara's tone that made her suspicious, but she nodded after a moment, "Yes, of course. Did you need me to bring Kogitsune with me?" That usually meant a training session.

"Ah yes. But there'll be no practice, there's someone who's coming to talk to you"

Oh no… _someone_ was coming to _talk_ to her? Anxiety slipped down into her stomach, settled there like she'd eaten a rock, and suddenly she felt sick.

"Wh-who's coming?"

He made a queer face, "I'm not sure myself, but it's someone from the Gotei 13 at any rate"

So pretty much anyone living in the Seireitei, how very… helpful…

"Okay… I'll be there…" she replied nervously. He nodded, "Yery good, I'll see you then Higurashi-kun. Get some rest now, okay?" And with that he turned around and went shuffling back down the stairs the way he came.

The dorm was empty when she finally got up to it but that's wasn't a surprise seeing as it was mid-afternoon, Hana and Eri were probably still in classes. There was a great deal of clutter strewn across the table in the main room, an assortment of books and hand-written notes that suggested to her that someone had been studying right up until they left, which always meant test.

"Tadaima" she called into the empty dorm a little morosely.

* * *

><p>With anxiety hanging over her head two days passed all too quickly, and sooner than she would prefer she was walking across campus to Onabara-sensei's office. She'd abandoned the sling the day before as she was healed enough not be at risk of tearing a wound and had even done some sword exercises that morning, more like yoga with a blade rather than full on katas. It had been good for her neck and shoulders which were now a bit achy but she could tell it was from not being stretched for so long and from the healing.<p>

Onabara-sensei's office was on the main floor of what was unofficially a faculty building. There were a few classrooms and a dojo but nearly the entirety of it was made up by offices and the teaching areas were used mostly for club events and special presentations.

She could feel sensei was in his office as she approached but there was already someone in there with him by the time she got there. She glanced back at the clock at the end of the hall and found it was only a few more minutes until noon so she just reached out and knocked away.

"Sensei? It's Higurashi" she called uncertainly. "Ah! Come in Higurashi-kun!" Onabara-sensei called back. She hesitated briefly then slid open door and stepped into his office.

His guest as it turned out was a stern faced woman perhaps only a bit older than herself and a Soul Reaper by her manner of dress. She wore glasses and her medium length hair was done up tight with a clip in the back although her bangs were long on the right side. She stared fiercely at Kagome as she stepped through the door, steely eyes examining thoroughly, finding all and missing nothing.

And with Kagome's luck she was probably one of the ninja from Squad 2 asked to punish Kagome for so impudently knocking Takashi flat on his ass.

Although… the massive book across her lap made her look more like a very annoyed secretary than someone out of the punishment force. Given its rather large size and thickness though, she figured it was probably a passable weapon for beating something over the head with.

Still, Kagome dredged up her nerves, straightened her back and shut the door behind her.

Onabara-sensei gestured for her to sit down and she sank into the extra chair as smoothly as she could manage, Kogitsune ringing softly at the motion but excessively loud in the quietness of the office.

"Ah, this is Higurashi Kagome. Higurashi-kun this is-"

"Ise Nanao, Lieutenant of Squad Eight—"

_She_ was the Lieutenant of Squad Eight? Captain Kyouraku's Lieutenant?

She blinked and re-examined the woman; She was the very antithesis to Kyouraku. Prim and proper, no hair on her head or fold in her shihakusho out of place. There was an expression in her eyes and around her brows that she thought wouldn't have been out of place on Sango right before she threw her Hiraikotsu. Kagome struggled to wrap her head around it for several long seconds, so much so that she almost missed what Ise-fukutaicho said after introduced herself.

"—has Onabara-san informed you of what's going on?"

Wide eyed and more than a little confused –was this _not_ about Takashi?- she nervously shook her head.

"I see", Ise looked at him, and although she was expressionless, Kagome felt a twitch in her aura that suggested she was annoyed.

Onabara-sensei scratched his neck nervously, "I didn't want her to get too nervous", he said by way of explanation.

Ise gave a sniff that suggested she had serious thoughts about his intelligence. "Very well, Higurashi-san. I am here on behalf of Kyouraku-taicho" She paused briefly to pull out a sheaf of paper from between the pages of her book. She thrust them in her direction and Kagome nervously took them, glancing at the title stamped across the top; **Application for _ Seat. **The top right corner had the rhombus seal of the Gotei 13 and the kanji for 8 in the center, and the blank spot just before 'Seat' had been filled in with a blue-stamped '18th'.

"Wh-what?" she stuttered, scanning farther down the pages to find her student number and name had been printed into their respective spaces.

She glanced startled between Ise-fukutaicho and Onabara-sensei, baffled was the least of her emotions although hope and excitement were smouldering uneasily in her belly.

"It's not official of course until the paper work is filled out and processed but for all intents and purposes the posting is legitimate" Ise explained, adjusting her glasses and standing.

"But Takashi-" Kagome started.

Onabara coughed politely and offered, "It would seem, that when Takashi's grandfather found out about his … actions… during the training exercise he deemed Takashi unfit for duty. Takashi's family will not be permitting him to graduate until such time that he , ah… 'truly represents the name of Kumoi'. In the meantime, the Dean of the Academy received a number of rather…unusual…recommendation letters from no less than four Captains of Gotei 13 regarding yourself"

"Four?" she gasped more than asked.

Ise adjusted her glasses again and elaborated, "Aizen-taicho in particular thought that your actions in the Living World warranted justification for your immediate placement within the Gotei 13 and it would seem that Ukitake-taicho, and Ichimaru-taicho, along with my own Captain all saw fit to agree. Aizen-taicho had hoped to take you into Squad 5, but it would seem that Kyouraku-taicho beat him to it"

"At any rate…" she continued, "Pack your things and fill out that paperwork tonight. We'll send an officer to collect you at the gate tomorrow at this time, and another will take care of moving your belongings"

Ise-fukutaicho paused and picked up a black bundle from next to the chair she'd been sitting in and placed it in her lap over the paperwork; a shihakusho neatly folded and bound with twine. "And welcome to Squad 8, 18th seat Higurashi Kagome"

* * *

><p>There, chapter 5. A year and a half in the making but done. Started buying those 3-in-1 Bleach volumes and it's caused some serious brainstorming.<p>

Also, I will be putting up a pairings poll on my profile. I had planned the pairing before but then I started reading manga and fanfiction and it ALL went downhill from there. Got four thousand words to chapter 6 so far, so the poll will probably close once I get it out.

CrowFeathers out!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey look! The annual update came out! *facepalm* This is so wrong.

So I was looking at the poll... What the hell Shunsui? What did you do to the fans to piss them off that you're only getting a cuddle puddle with Kagome if it's a tagalong with Jyuushiro?

Byaku-bo's awfully popular though ... ;D

Gin's oddly popular here, even more than Ichigo, though that may boil down to the setting thing. Still, I think he may be the odd duck here. GinRan is my OTP. Srsly, the death scene, omg the feels!

Also, ERMAHGAWD WHY WONT THE ITALICS SAVE?! D8{

EDIT/Note-to-self: Why wont the italics save? Because you were editing this in docX instead of story mode. That why. *facepalm*

* * *

><p>Squad 8 was… interesting…<p>

Breakfast was the quietest affair of the day if for no other reason than about two thirds of the mess hall's occupants were nursing hangovers. The rest were just hanging around directing smug smirks and raised eyebrows to their suffering colleagues.

Because while the Eleventh Division might've been the strongest in sheer combat, the Eighth staunchly defended their reputation as the hardest drinkers in Soul Society; She hadn't actually traveled to any of the other Divisions yet but she was more than moderately certain that the Eighth was the only place in Soul Society where a Pina Colada counted as a fruit.

After breakfast though, all bets were off.

In Eighth you attended the sword drills taught by the 3rd seat, attempted to copy his flashy Zanpakuto maneuvers, then failed wildly and had to be dragged off the field by your laughing friends. All Kido were very loud, very flashy, and preferably explosive with extreme prejudice. And in the event that your Lieutenant managed to successfully track down and drag the Captain out to the any of the drills you mobbed him like a pack of excited puppies.

The Lieutenant – and the Captain for that matter- were something special.

Really.

Ise Nanao could cut through a stack of paperwork like Gin sliced through Hollows. And it was a rather scary thing; Kagome had _seen_ that paperwork. Her forms alone had consisted of forty five pages of everything including her own self-description to a detailed analysis of Kogitsune and his abilities. Not to mention the initials. God there had been so many initials. It had taken Kagome nearly the entire afternoon and no small portion of the night to fill out and initial everything on the damn application. If every form in the Eighth was even only half so long and tedious than Nanao deserved the title of Form Goddess.

Moreover, Kagome would estimate that nearly half of her Lieutenant's job was simply trying to keep track of Captain Kyouraku, who was nearly always to be found napping on the roof or beneath- occasionally in- a tree. Kagome could honestly say that she'd never met someone who could drink so much and still stand reasonably upright, and she'd already met _Rangiku_.

The pink haori was not in fact some flashy distraction just for the academy, although the pattern apparently changed every few decades and he hadn't been seen wearing tabi with his sandals during the lifetime of anyone in the Division. He wouldn't have known 'proper address', as Nanao would call it, if it walked up and kicked him in the head. Kagome had barely been on the Eighth's grounds two minutes before the man had appeared out of nowhere, smelling vaguely of alcohol and with sakura petals in his hair, to drape himself over her shoulders and announce to the whole division-and possibly any neighboring ones besides- that she was their new precious 'Kagome-chan!' and that they should all make her feel welcome.

She had heard the Lieutenant many times stomping off and muttering darkly about him and what she'd do to him when she finally found him. This sight usually sent other members of the Eighth running, as though they might get caught in the crossfire just by being within sight of the irate woman. Kagome for the life of her had yet to figure out why; She'd never seen the Lieutenant carrying her Zanpakuto although the largest of the books she habitually had tucked under her arm could probably be counted as a deadly weapon.

Kagome was positioned as 18th seat, a slot she shared with 11 others. Non-seated officers were required to take care of the conditions of the barracks, which included menial chores such cleaning up the training grounds, the barracks themselves, including the bathrooms and mess hall, and the surrounding division property such as lanes, courtyards, and steps. They were all arranged into sub-groups and Kagome was put in charge of the one that took care of the Hell Butterflies for the Division. It was by no means difficult or dangerous and she rarely saw hands on work unless someone called in sick – or more likely, hungover- but between inventory updates and health reports it produced an amount of paperwork quite disproportionate to the seriousness of the work involved. There were many a day she simply wished she could throw it into a pile and set it on fire.

Or maybe feed it to Kogitsune, who probably would've welcomed the opportunity to cut something. She'd balked when she found out she'd have to keep him locked up in the armoury with the other zanpakuto and was only permitted to carry him during practice, drills, and missions but had relented. It was nerve wracking at first and she spent the first few days in the division feeling as if she was walking about naked but eventually she was able to relax. Since she had accomplished shikai, she was allotted more practice hours so whenever possible she signed out one of the areas and retrieved him for an afternoon.

It was a good routine, up at dawn to grab a light breakfast and then off to whatever morning drills were being run that day, proceeding into the Division properly to check on the Butterfly houses and check in with the unseated officers that answered to her. After that it was into the office to get on with the paperwork, break for lunch, a lil more paperwork and then evening drills and exercises.

Sometimes she even received time off and got to enjoy a few days wandering the Rukon with her family or visiting Nobooru and her friends at the Academy. But time passed largely uneventful and before long Kagome was surprised to find a whole year had gone by.

The way she found out about it unfortunately left something to be desired…

* * *

><p>Kagome stepped out of the office late one evening, set on getting back to the barracks when she noticed two figures stood in the gate entrance. One was Izuru, and since Gin hadn't seen fit to bring him on his last visit and she hadn't seen him in over a year, she almost yelled out to him.<p>

Then she realized who was standing next to him.

There was only one woman in Seireitei that Kagome knew of who gave off alcohol flavored reiatsu. Also she could've been the most spiritually deaf Soul Reaper in the history of Soul Society and she _still_ would've recognized that figure from half a mile away.

_Rangiku_.

And -since Kagome also remembered what happened the last time she actually went anywhere with Rangiku- the sight of her alone was almost enough to get her moving the other way.

Then Izuru glanced in her direction and lifted his hand in an almost weary looking wave. The strawberry-blonde woman casually turned to glance at who he waving at, but when her eyes alit upon Kagome she grinned -her stomach twisted- and squealed "There you are Kagome-chan!"

At this point Kagome really did start moving the other way, except that she turned to find her Captain standing four feet from her with an expression that wouldn't have been out of place on Gin.

Slim arms seized her from behind and her head was nudged forward by generous bust, "Kagome-chaaannn, that was mean" Rangiku whined as if she hadn't just locked her elbows and started dragging Kagome towards the gate.

"Izuru! Help!" Kagome squawked desperately as the busty blonde dragged her bodily by him. "Sorry, Kagome-chan" her Captain interrupted, possibly before Izuru could think of a way to rescue her- she doubted he would've anyway judging by his pitying expression- and he smiled gently at her, "You're not getting out of this one"

A sort of dawning horror raced down her spine; it's been a very long time indeed since Kagome has felt betrayed and she can honestly say she hasn't missed it.

"Kagome-chan" Rangiku continued to whine behind her, "You've been in Eighth for a whole year and you've never once visited me! We're going celebrating and you're going to meet the gang!"

The gang? Kagome didn't know 'the gang', but if Rangiku was involved in it then she almost certainly didn't want to and she struggled with new fervor. She might as well have been wrestling with one of the thugs from Eleventh though for all the good it did her, and eventually a few twists, turns, and a shunpo later they arrived at a small, loud building in either an old corner of Seireitei. It was a nice spot and she only realized it was a bar once she was forcibly thrust through the door and into the throng of people.

Kagome had the sense to blink in astonishment, as it seemed like half of the Eighth had managed to squeeze themselves into the little building. There was a hoard of Eleventh –identifiable by their hair alone- sitting in the corner yelling at another Eleventh and the 12th seat from her division in the middle of an arm wrestling contest. What few of the Eighth that she did recognize waved at her and yelled congratulations, and she didn't really comprehend what was going on until her captain threw his arm across her shoulders and explained "A few of the officers wanted to throw you a party for being in the Division a whole year" The 12th seat –he had won the match apparently- waved cheerily at her from across the room right before another one of the Eleventh sat down with a scowl. "They meant for it to be a quiet affair so naturally half the squad showed up" he continued with a smile. That didn't surprise her at all, any reason to party and all that.

Despite their apparently well-meaning get together Kagome didn't trust any bottle of liquor within two miles of Rangiku and hastily scanned the situation. Escape was entirely possible; the only barrier between her and freedom was the loose limb across her shoulders and the sleeve of her Captain's pink haori draped across her back, flimsy enough obstacles if there ever were any.

Perhaps sensing her impending escape though she found her arm caught in Rangiku's – there were _Hollow's_ with weaker grips- and was all but frog-marched towards a table in the back corner.

There were a number of people already at this table and they waved at Rangiku as she approached so Kagome would hazard a guess that they were 'the gang'. She examined them quickly while she was being sandwiched between Izuru and Rangiku on the open end.

The first one had clean, cropped, black hair and coloured –feather?- extensions in his eyebrows, which she found very distracting as he spoke across the table to Rangiku. The second one was either bald or clean shaven-she couldn't tell in the barlight-with red markings near his eyes and something about him screamed Eleventh. He was pouring sake into the cup of a taller man with spiked black hair and long thin scars -claw marks, she recognized instantly- and an odd tattoo on his opposite cheek.

The man on his other side though, whom Izuru was sliding down next to, she actually recognized. Renji's tattoos had a slightly different pattern, had become more numerous across his forehead, and his hair looked slightly longer than she remembered it being; But he gave a boyish grin when her eyes landed on him and she couldn't help but give a weak smile and nod in return.

Maybe a night out with good company won't be that bad.

* * *

><p>It turned out to be <em>exactly<em> that bad.

* * *

><p>Kagome awoke to a dark room, a great deal of snoring, and a searing headache.<p>

She tentatively cracked open an eye and immediately wished she hadn't. Izuru and Shuuhei were across the room -they're not in the bar anymore, she has no idea where- the former slept on top of a table in a nest of sake jugs and the other she sensed was somewhere down on the floor, possibly under the same table. But through the crack in her eyelid she'd seen Izuru was wearing nothing but his loincloth and she didn't dare check on Shuuhei's state of undress. Yumichika, Ikkaku, and sunglasses –she doesn't remember his name only that they'd met up with him at the third bar- are nowhere to be seen or sensed but the groaning from behind the couch sounded suspiciously like Renji.

Kagome was laying on something- someone- and judging by the mound blocking part of her vision she suspected it was Rangiku. They were both still dressed, if not a little rumpled, and wedged onto the couch together which, given the alternatives, wasn't actually the worst outcome.

This was confirmed when the woman murmured sleepily and hugged her tightly like she was a damn body pillow to be cuddled with. The rearrangement of arms however meant Rangiku hugged her middle and with the sudden pressure on her stomach Kagome was abruptly -_acutely_- aware that she was going to be sick. She pinched her eyes closed and started breathing very slowly and carefully. One might might have an unwanted drinking buddy thrust upon them, one might occasionally want to kick one's unwanted drinking buddy's teeth in, but one did _not_ vomit into a lieutenant's cleavage, regardless of how appropriate a revenge it would be.

Careful meditative breathing exercises turned into genuine drowsiness and she just started to nod off again into blissful unconsciousness when she became aware of a stormy reiatsu and stomping feet headed their way. The door opened with a harsh thud somewhere behind the couch and she opened her eyes curiously, immediately wishing she hadn't, _again_. The light of day flooded into the room and drilled painfully into her skull like daggers through her eyes. She whined pitifully but she doubted it was heard by anyone since Renji made a sound like a rusty hinge. To add to that the person in the door apparently had no qualms with volume, as no sooner than the door was opened there was a horrendous yell, "Matsumotooooooo!" Said woman jerked sleepily –Kagome slapped a hand over her mouth to stave off the renewed urge to vomit- then woke and sat up slightly to peer over the top of the couch at the door, "Oh… Good morning taicho!" She _sang_ the greeting, far too cheery for someone who spent the night getting herself and all her nearest peers as drunk as possible.

Kagome called foul, her boobs must've given her an advantage. There was no other rational explanation for how the woman could drink them all under the table through four –or was it five?- bars and still smile and greet people like that the next morning.

A horrified Izuru and Shuuhei woke and shrieked incomprehensibly about their clothes while Rangiku sat up and inadverdently dumped Kagome to her side against the back of the couch. Between the noise, the movement, and the harsh sunlight Kagome was feeling _very_ un-zen-like. Seeing as the apparent Tenth's Captain hadn't seen fit to close the damn door she hissed like an angry cat and slowly turned her head to face the back of the couch; the view was hardly any better but at least there was less light and she could pull a hand up over one ear.

Rangiku started to pet her head but otherwise kept talking like nothing had changed, "Taicho, what are you doing here so early?"

There was a magnificent snarl like a wild animal, and he burst out, "It's three in the afternoon-"

Kagome winced, 'So loud…'

"-This week's paperwork is piling up and you haven't touched last week's!"

'So loud…' her eyebrow twitched.

"Awwww, but paperwork's sooo boring…" Rangiku whined. "Wouldn't it be great if it all just blew away?"

The captain's reiatsu turned _icey_. "You're doing it! Even if I have to tie you to your chair and shove it down your throat!"

'So _loud_'

Kagome slowly sat up –garnered both of their attentions- and even more slowly turned to face the man –boy, he was shorter and younger than she expected in a captain, and in any other situation she may've privately cooed at his white hair-with narrowed eyes and a roiling reiatsu. She didn't know what kind of expression was on her face, but he actually took a step back so it couldn't have been pleasant. Very slowly she brought her finger to her lips and very calmly, "Shhhhhhhh"

"Awwww, Kagome-chan's so cute when she's angry" Rangiku chirped hugging her to her bossom. The captain looked kind of freaked out but the effect was none the less ruined by Kagome getting a face-full of breasts.

Kagome grunted, "I hate everyone"

Behind the couch, Renji puked on the Captain's sandals and in the silence that followed Kagome could have sworn she heard the universe -or maybe it was just Kogitsune- cackling at them.

* * *

><p>The entire experience still made Kagome nauseous years later but convinced her to add a few new rules to dealing with Rangiku, such as 'Don't drink anything that Rangiku puts in front of you'.<p>

Not even the tea.

_Especially_ the tea.

Don't even look at it.

_**Ever**_.

* * *

><p>Late the same night found Kagome sitting out on the veranda outside her quarters, drinking tea -a non-Rangiku variety- as she slowly worked her way through the reports that she'd found on her desk when she'd finally crawled back into the Eighth long enough to shower, change, and feel something that somewhat <em>resembled<em> human.

She had made it back just in time to join one of the later drills, amused to find that it consisted mostly of officers that she'd seen last night at the party, and then proceeded to spend the last few hours of sunlight getting -obnoxiously-cheerfully grinned at –now you really are an officer of the Eighth Higurashi-san! – while she painfully worked through a couple of the zanjutsu exercises. Kogitsune still lay on the floor just behind her but feeling as she did and the armoury being so unbearably far away, going back to deposit him wasn't worth it; the odds were low that she'd get in trouble for having him over night anyway and even if she did the paperwork was totally worth not moving from her spot.

A few of the unseated officers on patrol of the grounds waved at her as they went by the edge of the property but they were too far to talk to, and she was somewhat preoccupied with the paperwork anyway. She probably would've made more progress if she'd gone indoors and worked in her room but the night was mild and the subtle breeze felt good.

She barely even blinked when she was interrupted by her Captain wandering around the corner humming some tavern song she might've heard from Rangiku before. He spotted her and smiled broadly, "Kagome-chan!", he greeted. He lifted his hand and gently shook a large sake jug, "Join me for a drink?"

No.

Just, no.

Remembering his part in her suffering today she gave him a cold look that he pouted sadly at but she didn't budge. He'd left her to Ragiku's tender mercies last night and she hadn't even seen him after she'd been seated at the table. She'd had enough to drink for the rest of her life and if Kagome ever caught a whiff of Rangiku's reiatsu again she was holing herself up in the Eighth's accounting department, since the woman was apparently allergic to paperwork and would hopefully vanish at the doorway like some sort of vampire that needed to be invited in.

She wondered how he could be at it again in less than twenty four hours though, and countered with a "How about you join me for tea, Kyouraku-taicho?", gesturing to her full pot. He declined but nonetheless joined her where she sat.

It was the metallic clink that made her realize –startled- that he was carrying his swords and further inspection revealed he looked a bit more tattered than he normally would. There was even a faint white strip of what she suspected was bandage peeking out from beneath his sleeve as he slid his zanpakuto pair out of his sash and laid them both down beside Kogitsune.

"Kyouraku-taicho, are you alright? You look like you were in a fight" she inquired uneasily, she hadn't heard of any kind of Hollow incursion or anything and sword drills never involved such scrapes and bruises, at least not for the Captain. "Just some vigorous sparring. Jyuushiro has been feeling much better recently and he felt like putting me through my paces" he replied, lifting his arm a bit to show the small section of bandage on his forearm. The action had her fingers twitching with the impulse to heal it but then he got that sappy smile and cooed "Was my little Kagome-chan worried about me?"

She wanted to shoot back that she's not 'little', but realistically her captain had well over a full foot and about a hundred pounds on her, so instead she leveled him the dryest Nanao-patented stare she could manage; not as scary as a Sesshomaru death glare but more effective given the company involved. Shunsui twitched but after a moment he smiled gently and -she watched him carefully in case he tried any funny business with the sake- refilled her teacup for her .

Returning to his previous comment she asked, "You said that Ukitake-taicho has been feeling better, was he sick or something?" Kyouraku grunted softly then continued, "Right, I keep forgetting that you've only been in the Gotei 13 for a little while…" He trailed off and she wondered if she was prying into something private so she immediately backpeddled, "Sorry, it's not really my business is it?" But her Captain just smiled at her indulgently. "No, it's hardly a secret, it's just that the officers here don't gossip about it and you don't visit any of the other Divisions. Jyuushiro has had a recurring illness ever since our Academy days; He gets flare-ups now and again, sometimes for weeks at a time"

She recalled thinking that he had seemed unwell when she'd met him at the academy, not really frail, because one only had to stand near him long enough for him to draw his sword before it became rapidly apparent that he was in fact obnoxiously powerful, but rather somewhat dimished. Remnants of school time gossip about a Captain who was always ill drifted back to her and she might've inquired more about it, since her Captain didn't seem particularly opposed to probing, but at that moment Kogitsune thrummed with absolute glee in her mind and the bells on his hilt rang out as though he'd shifted. A bit startled she reached back and brushed her hand across his hilt to hush him, muttering "What's your problem now?"

But he didn't answer, not that she expected him to, rather she was treated to the mental image of him waving her off distractedly while he wagged his tail like a happy dog.

Kyouraku coughed and in a little sing-song voice, "Your zanpakutou likes my zanpakutou" She looked at him a little perturbed, "You can tell- Wait- They're talking? I thought zanpakutou could only communicate when they touched"

He nodded a bit, "For most that's true, but some are more outgoing than others and just being near another Zanpakutou is enough. And if I remember correctly, your's is illusion type isn't it?" She nodded and he continued, "Ah, I knew another with illusion-type once, and it often gave him trouble. They're the most capable of communicating with other zanpakutou. I'm sure you've noticed?"

Here she looked at him a little confused so for her benefit he continued, "There are people around you that your Zanpakutou gets excited over aren't there? And there are others, oppositely, that it's aloof or even hostile towards for no apparent reason?"

She thought about it, and found it was true. Of the people she knew with shikai none of them had indicated their zanpakutou spirits were half so active as hers. "Kogitsune…" she started, brushing her fingers across his hilt and feeling him hum gently in delight, "I had almost forgotten, but in the sparring match back at the academy…when you and the other taicho came to meet Takashi and I… he got so excited when I was with Ukitake-taicho… but then in the next moment he got angry with Aizen-taicho"

"Your zanpakutou is very playful isn't it?"

She rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt "You have no idea". He laughed and continued, "I thought so. I know Jyushiro's Zanpakutou, Sogyo no Kotowari, is also like that so they probably got along very well. And my own Katen Kyokotsu's always up for a game even when she's a bit of a sore loser about it. But Aizen's a calm man so his zanpakuto is probably much more subdued and ignored Kogitsune"

"That explains a few things…" she murmured to herself, idly tapping one of Kogitsune's bells.

He made a soft noise of agreement but didn't continue. She glanced down at the forgotten paperwork in her lap and decided that the 'Proposal for Feeding Schedule Changes in Butterfly Houses 2 thru 5' was a lost cause. She set it aside, filled Kyouraku's cup for him, then lounged back on her hands and watched the clouds drift across the moon as they sipped tea and sake in companionable silence.

* * *

><p>Kagome sat at her desk catching up on her paperwork from the day before when a long white silhouette appeared in her peripheral and she looked up to see Gin standing in the doorway to her office like he belonged there. She also saw that the people milling about the hallway beyond her office had stopped all movement and were were staring at him with equal parts shock and nervousness; she ignored them, it was pretty much a standard reaction to Gin and she'd met enough crazies since coming to the Seireitei that she had even less understanding for why people were so freaked out by him.<p>

"Gin!" she exclaimed, a bit surprised. She had hardly seen him since joining the Eighth, last time being nearly six months ago before he'd vanished again without a word. "Now now, no excuses Kagome-chan" he said, sliding smoothly into her office and shutting the door on the increasingly numerous rubberneckers behind him, "You ought to be adressin' me properly, shouldn't ya?"

She can't keep her mouth from twitching into a grin, "I guess you're right, ne?" She put down her brush and playfully saluted, "Ichimaru-taicho sir! What can this lowly 18th seat do for you today, sir?"

His grin deepened before he slid down into the extra chair in front of her desk –Kyouraku-taicho had put it there one afternoon when he'd been hiding from his fukutaicho - lifting his hand to put a sizeable wooden basket on the corner opposite him.

"Do ya know, Kagome-chan, that you've become a bit famous?" he asked casually, and Kagome jerked with honest surprise. "Wh-what?" she stuttered, a bit stunned and not quite sure whether to believe him, "What are you talking about?" She racked her brain for moment, wondering if maybe she did something infamous but didn't really come up with anything. She can't have made an impression to anyone outside the Squad really, as she hadn't even been to any the other ones and she'd really only had to talk to people outside her own Squad when they'd brought paperwork over and barely said more than a few words.

Then terror raced down her spine at the thought of the night before last and Kogitsune helpfully supplied some made up imagery of what may or may not have occurred in her drunken haze. She dropped her head down against her desk – she forgets that her paperwork is wet with ink and will remember in the bathroom an hour from now when she sees her lopsided signature smeared across her forehead- with a hard thud and a most pitiful moan, "Oh god, please tell me I haven't done anything embarrassing to someone important and that I don't need to crawl into a dark hole and hide for the rest of my afterlife"

Gin snorted inelegantly, "Naw, although you and Ran-chan were composing the most interesting ballad about Shuuhei-kun when I left you" "Oh god…" she rasped. Since she didn't remember the ballad or even seeing Gin there was good odds that Hisagi-kun – who'd already been drinking by the time she met him- didn't either, so she might actually be able to look him in the eye again sometime in the next decade.

"Graduated so quick ya see, an' right into a seat right outta the Academy; They're callin' you a genius" She flushed, "It can't be that strange-" His brow raised-"I mean, last time I saw you didn't you say that you made third in less than a year? I mean I'm still 18th, it's hardly comparable"

"Mmhm" he agreed softly, "But didn't ya know Kagome-chan? They called me a genius then too. I didn't think you'd take it as a challenge"

"I didn't!" she denied immediately, and she meant it. "I just… it doesn't, well didn't, seem that fast to me but…"

But now, now that she thought about it, it was rather fast; Nobooru was looking at least another two years of work before he was expected to graduate and it was way too early to tell if he'd land a seated position. She'd completed a six year program in a year and a half and had known she was being shuffled into a non-entry position.

"I guess…" she started hesitantly, "But just because I work hard doesn't make me a genius…"

He propped his arm up between his chin and the desk, which partially obscured his grin and seemed to observe her for a long time. He was amused but he kept it up for so long that eventually she cocked a brow and asked politely, "What are you doing?"

"People watchin'" he replied amicably.

She snorted in elegantly and asked, "Is it still people-watching if it's just me?"

His grin nearly split his face in half and he commented, "Just you? Well don't ya realize Kagome? You're the most interesting person I know!"

She blushed madly but also felt a little surge of pride; Gin doesn't seem like the type of person to be entertained by anything for very long. None-the-less she felt the need to change the subject.

"W-would you like some tea?" she asked, she probably should've offered it when he first came in.

"Naw, but you could help me with these", he gestured to the basket he'd brought with him which turned out to be filled with dried persimmons.

"Ah, that time of year again, huh?" she commented more than asked, but took one and munched on it. She hadn't particularly been fond of the fruit in life or when she'd initially come to the Soul Society but Gin was a fiend for them and had planted extensive persimmon orchards on the Third's grounds although she'd never been there to see them. Before she'd joined the academy he'd irregularly visit her but always brought them along with the excuse that she had reiatsu so she should be sure to eat regularly. Then when she'd entered the academy he brought them along and reminded her how nasty the cafeteria food and that he was just looking out for her. Now she liked them if for no other reason than she had come to associate them with Gin.

"A good harvest this year" he commented, "I've been taking them aroun' to all the divisions as soon as they're dried, but you know no one seems to really appreciate it. They all seem to think I'm up to somethin'"

She smothered her laugh and joked, "Ah, well, maybe you should try to smile more?"

"Oh? Ya think so?" he replied with a curious tone, but the particular deepening of his smile indicated he was enjoying himself.

* * *

><p>Gin's a luck charm.<p>

She's not actually figured out if it's good luck or bad luck, but it _is_ luck, and she should stop talking to him about things because the very next morning the paper's for 12th seat are on her desk.

* * *

><p>Once when Gin was so very small and young there was an old man in the district named Miroku.<p>

Miroku was ancient.

In so far as anyone knew he'd been around for centuries since no one in the district knew a time he had not lived in the ragged old wooden hut he claimed to have built himself. He was regarded as a lecherous creep per the norm of the outer district, calling out to young pretty women –what few there were in the 73rd- that they might come warm up his old lonely bones and so was oft given a wide berth. But Gin had seen with his own eyes as he'd beaten a man nearly to death for attempting to rape a young woman near his house and known the old bat with his dragontail braid and rusting shakujo had a good heart no matter what front he put up. Anyone brave enough to venture up to the old codger would accordingly be rewarded with a hot bowl of rice porridge and a story if they were so inclined.

When Gin was so very small and young and vulnerable he lived on these bowls of porridge and stories.

And oh could the man tell a story.

He spoke of monstrous demons and horrific men. Of hanyou and kitsune and bakeneko. Of miko and jewels and terrible power. Curses and pain and suffering and joy and love and freedom.

There were stories of a dog prince who was neither human or youkai but something in between, who loved and lost and loved again. Of a tajiya who lost everything to savagery and greed only to make a new family for herself. A monk who fought alone and then found friendship. A miko who had nothing to gain from a dangerous journey but suffered for strangers nonetheless.

The stories of the miko are his favorite and he badgers the man endlessly for the next piece of her saga, suffers through the man waxing poetic about the woman in general for whatever actual tale Miroku will relinquish next.

He sits staring with rapt attention as Miroku weaves a tale of a woman who picks up a bow and saves a young kitsune and takes him as her son, wrests the spirit of a young girl from the fires of hell barehanded, shatters the dog lord's armor with a single arrow, befriends hanyou and human and youkai alike without prejudice, staves off the mind control of a terrible witch, saves herself from her own demons and then chases off the ones of the people around her, fights off the machinations of the spider hanyou and his ilk, is nearly ended herself but continues to climb back atop of it all, ever stronger.

'Kagome' Miroku lets slip one day when he comes staring hopefully for the next saga of the Shikon no Miko, and Gin in all the brief childish wonder of his youth promises he'll meet her one day. Miroku had smiled so very sadly, and said that he had looked for them all for so very long and had not yet succeeded.

Miroku had died not so long after then.

And with him the stories and hot porridge and gentle smiles went. Gin was left with a name, a worn hut, and just enough food to last him the winter, all of which was a great deal more than many in the district had.

In the following year he meets Rangiku and it becomes their hut and he comes to love her just as dearly.

Miroku had always warned him to protect what was precious to him. He finds Rangiku exhausted and drained and so very near death, her meager spiritual energy sucked dry. He drags her home, and then starts searching, tracking….

Hunting.

He follows the 3rd seat to where he passes the energy off to Aizen and immediately starts plotting. Like the miko he's not strong of body or position. But he is strong of mind, strong of spirit, and these men will regret touching his stuff.

But not now, not yet.

He kills one of the men later that year, lures him into a false sense of power by deliberately letting himself get caught and then slicing open the man's throat on a tanto the instant he lowers his guard to steal Gin's energy too.

If the man's master ever comes looking for him Gin doesn't know. He brings Rangiku with him to the inner districts, tests into the Academy and makes sure she does too.

He has things to do, a 3rd seat to unmake, a lieutenant to unmake. Neither will be easy.

He studies long and late into the night. Practices kidoh and sword stances until he can perform them half dead.

One day studying in a quiet corner of the library, Shikon jumps out at him from the footnote of a book and he remembers the tales and stories. He searches, and an image of the Shikon no Miko stares up at him one day in the archives. A black and white image of her battling a monstrous moth, and he wonders at the image of the young girl barely on the cusp of womanhood as she takes down a monster noted to have devoured thousands of souls in the region.

A voice starts whispering to him in his dreams. Shinsou is sweet and beautiful and dangerous. She dresses in a miko's garb but carries with her a silvery white naginata instead of a bow. Her eyes stare out at him from within his mindscape ferociously, like a Queen surveying her territory, reminding him that he has something to protect.

Rangiku lags behind his pace but this is alright. If he graduates before her he can clear the board of those who would do her harm.

He lands a seated position in the 5th right out of the academy and makes sure to sidle up to the 3rd seat. He calls him sempai and asks him for guidance and sucks up to him at every turn, makes himself into his lapdog. Then he slices the man open one night when he drops his guard. He times it precisely for when Aizen is coming to meet him, canting his head aside and giving him the kitsune smile that made Miroku's mouth twitch.

Aizen laps it up.

Gin bids his time. He plays at obedient pet, watching and waiting for opportunity to present itself. Aizen is strong, but more importantly he is smart. He won't be easy to simply end like the 3rd was.

So he waits and watches and helps.

Machinations and plans and experiments roll by with the decades.

He becomes a Captain himself and starts to wonder how long this charade will last.

When he's not doing Aizen's dirty work he drinks with Rangiku, or else wanders and watches. When unnerving the other Soul Reapers loses its appeals he spirits away into the Rukon, gives candy to the children brave –or sneaky- enough to come close like Miroku used to do, flattens a few thugs and scumbags, scares a few into pissing themselves. Sometimes he makes the long trip into the 73rd and sits by his old hearth and dreams.

And then one day he feels as though the rug's been pulled from beneath his feet.

The miko!

Shikon no miko, Kagome no Shikon stands in the street in a ragged beggar's haori but with a zanpakutou in hand. She's taller, older than in the pictures, and her hair's knotted up high out of the way. But those stunning blue eyes leap out at him more than any picture or story can tell. She's hurt and losing and bleeding, trying to protect someone who could pass for her father and a boy that has no relation to her but looks at her as though she's his whole world.

Her mikoki is potent and electrifying and beautiful but she can't tame it, perhaps doesn't remember enough to know different, and her young zanpakutou doesn't have the density or strength to contend with that volatile ki or the Hollows that bear down on her.

He kills them, saves her, on impulse. The hero of his childhood stories and mantras stares at him and doesn't flinch away in fear or hate or anything of the sort. There's relief and awe and ferocity and intelligence and compassion and she takes his breath away for a moment.

Then he remembers that Aizen is out there. Aizen is out there and plotting and always, always, always weighing the value of the people around him wondering if he could sway them. And the Shikon miko is legendary to more than just Gin, a good deal many would follow Kagome merely because of who she was.

He starts plotting of his own.

Carefully maneuvers her here and there. Earns her trust and gets her into the academy before she can disappear into Aizen's grasp. He doesn't know she exists yet but he can't be too careful.

He checks on her every so often, pleased to see her excelling and learning. She's hailed as a genius, nearly breaks his record and is guaranteed a seated position somewhere. He's pleased with her progress, she'll need all the strength she can muster if she's to survive Aizen.

Just when he starts thinking that they're both in the clear, Aizen casually asks when he gets to meet Gin's pet.

Aizen arranges to view the early graduates and Gin just barely manages to come up with a plan in time. Izuru, good loyal Izuru, is played to casually talk about the meeting with him just as Shunsui and Jyuushiro come into view. The men are as curious as any Captain would be about rising prodigies and ask to come along.

All he needs is for one of them to take an interest in her, maneuver her into one of their Squads and he'll have bought time. Shunsui particularly, Gin knows, Aizen maybe - just maybe- worries a little about tipping his hand to. The man had had his suspicions before, and although the whole incident with Urahara nearly 100 years ago had thrown him off the scent it's not foolproof. Kyouraku is foolish but that's not the same thing as being a fool and when it all comes out Gin suspects that Kyouraku will be the least surprised of anyone.

It only helps when the man takes one look at her in her academy dress, miko colours, and his eyes widen with just a hint of _knowing_.

Kagome, beautiful wonderful Kagome, who gives him a stare that could kill when he suggests she spar with one of the pair, performs both well beyond what he could've hoped and devastatingly poor at the same time.

On one hand she dances around Jyuushiro with a grin, taking the fight in stride, all modesty and polite smiles when they talk afterwards; Jyuushiro and Shunsui are intrigued which is the best possible outcome.

On the other hand, Aizen takes one look at her wordlessly cast gleaming pink barrier and meets Gin's eyes afterward with something all too much like triumph shining in them.

It's not enough.

Aizen needs confirmation; or maybe he just wants to test Gin, or torment Kagome, probably both. He sets loose one of his experimental Hollows on her exercise, resistant to most energies and almost immune to standard Spirit energy. And Gin's been conveniently sent on far patrol so he doesn't even know what's happened until he gets back to the inner districts and recognizes her reiatsu in the market.

Half a dozen interchanges, nothing more; she's alive, relatively unharmed, Aizen saved her, the awe in her voice makes his stomach turn but it's not yet on the level of his Lieutenant's obsession so he dismisses it for now, she lashed out against Takashi and is nervous about her status but Aizen's offered her a position and knows he's too late to maneuver her into his own.

She wouldn't be safe there anyway.

He practically races all the way back to the Seireitei to find out what's going on.

Kyouraku's claimed her.

He's so relieved he nearly giggles.

She decked Takashi for his cowardice and if there's anything that distinguishes Kyouraku's people it's that they never flee and they definitely don't leave their own behind. He wanted her and he knew all the right people to get her, no matter how much Aizen might hope to have her in his own Squad. More importantly Shunsui is obnoxiously protective of his people, the man was absolutely dangerous for decades after he lost his precious Lieutenant and he's only slightly mellowed in the more recent years.

The next time Gin sees Aizen he knows right away he's feeling thwarted, and Gin can barely get his thoughts together long enough to simper out a, "Sorry Aizen-taicho. I wanted ter be sure it were really her before I bothered ya, ya see"

But no, he knows the look in the man's eyes. He's got an idea in his head and is pulling plans into place to complete that. Aizen may not want to tip off Kyouraku but the Eighth isn't a true safehaven. Aizen had turned his pets on the Thirteenth after all, when he'd been so inclined.

Kagome wasn't in the clear yet but time had been bought; Aizen wouldn't move against her just yet and risk somebody connecting dots and figuring out that she was being targeted.

And truthfully Gin feared more than anything that words, rather than actions, would do more damage.

He feared that at the end of the day Kagome would walk willingly into Aizen's shadow. He wouldn't need any more than a few hours to utterly mindfuck her over. A few well-chosen words, every bit as deadly and dangerous as blades when falling from Aizen's mouth, maybe a graphic illusion or two if he thought she was wasn't playing quick enough into his hand, and Kagome might be undone by the sheer ugly truth that all higher officers knew.

That Central 46 and the Gotei 13 had systematically exterminated every youkai and driven them to complete and utter extinction.

* * *

><p>AN: There. Gin's a slippery bastard and I felt that there needed to be some early elaboration as to why he's 'nice' to Kagome.

I feel bad about poor Miroku, he only missed her by about a century, give a decade or two.

Given that Gin spent his lifetime getting back at Aizen for the whole thing with Rangiku I think we can safely say that he has a protective streak about as wide as Seireitei. It was sorta like selling your services to a mob boss just for the chance to gain revenge for what amounted to not much more than an elaborate mugging... :/ That's like ...the definition of overreaction folks.

Also I hate this chapter for some reason I'm not entirely sure of, though I suspect it may have something to do with the weeks of rereading and finding tense mistakes on EVERY SINGLE REREAD


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